‘Can’t let politician judge judicial competence’: Delhi HC’s Justice Swarana Kanta rejects Kejriwal’s recusal plea in excise case | India News
NEW DELHI: Justice Swarana Kant Sharma of the Delhi High Court on Monday refused to recuse herself from the hearing on former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s involvement in the liquor policy case, observing that “impartiality is a presumption for a judge” and is not a “legal requirement but a moral one”.Justice Sharma said “a politician cannot be allowed to cross the border and adjudicate judicial competence”.“The floodgates of the courts cannot be opened by allowing a litigant to plant the seeds of antitrust on this ground alone,” he was quoted as saying by Live Law.He said that when the person seeks recusal, the presumption must be rebutted by the defendant, adding that “mere apprehension or personal perception of the defendant is not sufficient”.Kejriwal appeared in court in person seeking Justice Swarana Kant Sharma’s withdrawal from hearing a CBI plea challenging its verdict in the liquor policy case.In the petition, Kejriwal contended that there was a serious, bona fide and reasonable apprehension that the hearing in the matter before him would not be fair and impartial.His petition stated that he heard multiple cases arising out of the CBI FIR, including Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest, and never granted relief to any of the accused.
