Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Bansuri Swaraj on Tuesday launched a fresh attack on former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over his plea seeking disqualification of a judge, saying it was an attempt to intimidate the judiciary.
“Arvind Kejriwal is a bully. She tried to put pressure on a woman member of the judiciary of this country. Rejecting his policies of putting pressure on the judiciary, Delhi HC rejected his request to transfer (the case).” Swaraj told reporters on Tuesday.
The Lok Sabha MP said the entire episode proved that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was a “drama company and Arvind Kejriwal is the director of this company”.
On Monday, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma dismissed applications by former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leader Manish Sisodia and others seeking to exempt her from hearing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) appeal against the lower court’s order to discharge them in the Delhi excise policy case. Justice Sharma stressed that mere fear of not receiving redress could not justify recusal, and there was no “clear reason” for recusal.
Read also:A setback for Kejriwal after Delhi HC judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma refused to step down in the tax policy case
Kejriwal, AAP leader Manish Sisodia and others were released by the trial court on February 27 in the Delhi excise policy case. The court said the materials provided by the Central Bureau of Investigation did not reveal a prima facie case, prompting the agency to challenge the matter in the Supreme Court.
On March 9, Justice Sharma stayed the lower court’s order, terming the statements as prima facie wrong.
On March 11, Kejriwal moved to transfer the case to another judge, which was rejected on March 13. He and Sisodia and four others then filed an application before the judge’s court asking her to step down.
In her judgement, the judge dismissed Kejriwal’s concerns of bias based on her attendance at events organized by the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad (ABAP), which allegedly followed an ideology opposed to the AAP.
