Delhi High Court judge Justice Suwarana Kanta Sharma on Tuesday abstained from hearing Congress MP Karti Chidambaram’s plea seeking quashing of the CBI’s FIR accusing it of helping UK-based liquor company Diageo Scotland secure lifting of the ban on sale of duty-free whiskey in India.
When the matter was taken up, the judge said that Karti’s petition, along with the related petition filed by Advantage Strategy Consulting Pvt Ltd (ASCPL) for similar relief, should be heard by another bench. She did not specify the reason for stepping down.
“This has to go. List it before another bench,” Justice Sharma said, setting July 21 as the next hearing date.
Kejriwal, Sisodia District Proceedings
This step down comes at a time when former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leader Manish Sisodia chose not to participate in the proceedings before Justice Sharma in the CBI’s appeal against their dismissals in the Delhi excise policy case, pending before her bench, after she rejected the step down request citing conflict of interest.
On April 20, the judge rejected requests from Kejriwal, Sisodia and others, holding that there was “no clear reason” to step down, and warning that stepping down merely because of perceived bias would set a troubling precedent. Following the order, Kejriwal wrote to the judge on Monday and Sisodia sent a similar letter on Tuesday, stating that they would boycott the hearing.
Karti’s petitions were earlier listed before Justices Vikas Mahajan and Ravinder Dodija, and came up on the bench of Justice Sharma for the first time after the list was changed.
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On January 1, 2025, the CBI registered a case against the Congress leader under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The agency alleged that Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd, “an entity controlled by him and his close friend S Bhaskararaman”, received “suspicious” money transfers from liquor company Diageo as well as venture capital fund Sequoia Capital.
According to the FIR, Diageo was importing duty-free whisky, but the Indian Tourism Development Corporation, which had a monopoly on the sale of duty-free imported liquor, imposed a ban in 2005 on the sale of duty-free Diageo products, causing huge losses to the company.
The FIR also alleged that Diageo approached Karti and, as part of a conspiracy to lift the ban, paid US$15,000 to ASCPL to influence public servants to remove the restriction.
The case was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by a CBI inspector after a preliminary investigation that began in June 2018. Apart from Karti and Bhaskararaman, the FIR also named ASCPL, Diageo Scotland, Mauritius-based Sequoia Capital and Vasan Healthcare Pvt Ltd.
Karti cites delay and lack of evidence in pleading guilty
In his petition, Karti asserted that despite conducting a preliminary investigation for nearly seven years, the CBI had failed to identify or name any government employee allegedly affected by it. He also said that he was never called to join the investigation or given an opportunity to be heard.
“There is a huge delay in registering the impugned FIR insofar as the allegations relate to the period from 2004 to 2010, whereas the subject matter of the FIR was registered in the year 2025, i.e. 20 years later,” the petition said.
