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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday (April 9, 2026) informed the Delhi High Court that former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other discharged accused in the liquor policy case cannot seek the recusal of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma merely because she attended a “legal seminar” by the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad, as it does not demonstrate any ideological association.In response to applications by the AAP leader and others seeking the judge’s recusal from hearing the CBI’s challenge to the trial court’s discharge order, the agency said, “If attending a function of Akhil Bhartiya Adhivakta Parishad shows ideological bias of any judge then large number of sitting High Court and Supreme Court judges would have to recuse from hearing any case where politically exposed persons are accused”.The CBI said that making “unscrupulous” and “sweeping” allegations of bias over attending legal seminars, which had no political topic, was an attempt to scandalise and lower the court’s authority and interfere with the administration of justice, which amounted to contempt of court.Mr. Kejriwal has filed the application for recusal of Justice Sharma, claiming there was a grave, bona fide, and reasonable apprehension that the hearing in the matter before her would not be impartial and neutral.His plea stated that Justice Sharma has decided multiple cases arising from the CBI FIR, including Mr. Kejriwal’s petition against his arrest, and never given relief to any of the accused.Besides Mr. Kejriwal, the applications for recusal of the judge have also been filed by AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak. Other respondents, including Vijay Nair and Arun Ramchandra Pillai, have also filed similar applications seeking recusal.The CBI, in its response, said, “It is submitted that attending a legal seminar can never be a ground for recusal when the topic of the seminar was not a political one therefore it does not demonstrate any ideological association, hence the said averment is also otherwise untenable”.The agency said that a view taken by a judge in a judicial decision cannot be a basis to allege bias and the request by Mr. Kejriwal and others amounted to “forum shopping”.Underscoring that Justice Sharma should not recuse herself from the matter, the CBI said the judge was assigned the roster of hearing cases concerning MPs and MLAs by the Chief Justice of the High Court, which cannot be changed only on Mr. Kejriwal’s request.Apprehension of not getting a fair hearing cannot be based on “conjecture and surmises” and the agency stated that an order of recusal cannot be passed at the “drop of a hat”, the response said. Published - April 09, 2026 07:31 pm IST
