Delhi High Court judge Tejas Karia on Wednesday recused himself from hearing a petition seeking contempt proceedings against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal and others for allegedly publishing videos of proceedings seeking Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma’s dismissal of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) appeal against the trial court’s order to discharge them in the 2022 tax policy case.
Advocate Vaibhav Singh, the petitioner, has sought directions to Meta, The petition was listed before a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Karia. When the matter was heard, the bench said that Justice Karia would not be able to hear the matter. “Bring this matter to any of us [Justice Karia] Not a member. List this issue tomorrow [Thursday] “Before another,” the bench said.
Singh filed the petition even as the Supreme Court last week directed the Delhi Police to remove video recordings from social media platforms. He has also sought action against Congress leader Digvijay Singh, AAP’s Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Sanjeev Jha, Jarnail Singh, Mukesh Ahlawat and Vinay Mishra.
Singh said the circulation of the videos violated the rules for online hearings under the Electronic Evidence Conferences and Video Recording Rules 2025. He added that they prohibit the recording and publication of court proceedings.
Singh’s petition said that such behavior reflects a conspiracy to mislead the public, tarnish the image of the court, and exert pressure on the judicial system and the judge.
On February 27, the court released Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others, holding that the CBI materials did not even reveal a prima facie case. The agency appealed the acquittal in the Supreme Court, calling the findings “inherently wrong” and claiming it had ignored key evidence.
On March 9, Justice Sharma’s bench stayed the trial court’s directions for administrative action against a CBI officer and adjourned the Enforcement Directorate’s proceedings pending the appeal.
Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya rejected Kejriwal’s request to transfer the appeal from the bench of Justice Sharma on March 13. Kejriwal, Sisodia and four others then filed an application for Justice Sharma’s disqualification.
Kejriwal appeared in court on April 6, when the notice was issued, and on April 13, he argued his application for more than an hour, videos of which went viral on social media platforms. On Monday, Justice Sharma rejected the disqualification requests.
