Delhi High Court appoints Senior Advocate Rajdipa Behura as amicus to assist it in Arvind Kejriwal contempt case

The Delhi High Court has appointed Senior Advocate Rajdipa Behura as amicus curiae to assist it in the contempt of court proceedings arising out of the remarks made against Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal.

The appointment was made by a Division Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja.

The Bench is hearing both the suo motu contempt case initiated by the High Court and a connected criminal contempt case alleging a coordinated campaign by journalist Saurav Das and AAP leaders to target Justice Sharma.

The matters have been tagged and will now be heard together.

The contempt proceedings trace back to May 14, when Justice Sharma initiated suo motu criminal contempt action against Kejriwal and other AAP leaders, including Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak, over what the Court described as “defamatory and vilifying” allegations circulated on social media.

In her order, Justice Sharma flagged a “coordinated campaign” involving posts, videos and public statements that questioned the integrity and impartiality of the Court.

She noted that some of the material included edited videos and allegations concerning her family members, which, according to her, were intended to undermine public confidence in the judiciary.

The controversy arose in the backdrop of the Delhi Excise Policy case, in which Kejriwal, Sisodia and others are accused. After rejecting their plea seeking her recusal on April 20, Justice Sharma proceeded to initiate contempt action.

Following the initiation of contempt proceedings, she transferred the Excise Policy case to another bench, stating that continuing to hear it might give rise to an impression of bias.

Subsequently, on May 19, the Division Bench issued notice in the matter to Kejriwal, Sisodia, Singh and others, directing them to file their responses within four weeks.