Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday criticized AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal a day after he appeared in court where he made arguments seeking to deny justice Swarana Kanta Sharma from hearing the CBI appeal in the Delhi excise policy case.
Rekha Gupta mocked the former Prime Minister, saying, “Ajkal Kejriwal sahab vakil ho jay hain (Mr. Kejriwal is a lawyer these days).” She accused the AAP leader of ignoring democracy and said that he always questions all government agencies that spoke against him.
“I want to ask, when something goes your way, you say there is no one better than you… What is the fear that haunts you today because you started pointing fingers at the judiciary?” Speaking in Hindi, Gupta said, adding that “the country has full confidence in the justice system.”
RSS Events, ‘Declared Guilty’: Kejriwal’s Arguments
Rekha Gupta’s criticism of Kejriwal came after the AAP leader was brought to court which he personally filed on Monday, a plea he said was based on a “reasonable apprehension of not getting a fair trial”.
Along with former MP CM Manish Sisodia and four others, Kejriwal sought Justice Sharma’s recusal from hearing the liquor policy in her presence during the hearing.
Read also: Who is Delhi HC Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma who Arvind Kejriwal wants from his case?
“I was almost declared guilty. I was almost declared corrupt. How much sunani baaki reh gayi thi (Only the verdict remains to be pronounced),” it was reported, casting doubt on the impartiality of the judge in the case.
He also cited four events of the RSS’s Akhil Bharatiya Adivakta Parishad which he said Justice Sharma attended, and questioned whether she was “sympathetic” to the ideology of the BJP and its parent body the RSS.
Justice Sharma then asked the AAP leader whether she had made any ideological or political statements; But he said that simply attending the events was enough. Kejriwal argued that Justice Sharma had a conflict of interest in the case, and that the question of recusal was between him and the judge, with the CBI having no locus.
“You can become a lawyer”
As Kejriwal argued his case, Justice Sharma told the AAP leader that he had “argued well” and could become a lawyer.
“You argued well. Aap vakeelban sakte hainJudge Swarana Kanta Sharma said, according to what was reported by PTI.
According to A LiveLaw In her report, the judge also said she had learned a lot about the “jurisprudence of response” from what the former prime minister had said.
“I have learned a lot about the jurisprudence of recusal. For the first time in my life someone is asking me to recuse myself. I have learned a lot,” said Justice Sharma, who will rule on the petition that casts doubt on her position in the case. “I hope I make a good judgement.”
