In a significant development, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court has rejected Arvind Kejriwal's plea for recusal from a high-profile case linked to the Delhi excise policy scam.
The judge, who has been at the centre of a controversy over her alleged bias, ruled that she would not step aside from the case, citing that it would be an 'act of surrender' and a signal that the institution can be 'bent, shaken and changed'.
Kejriwal, who argued his own case, had raised several grounds for why the judge should recuse herself, including her alleged bias and a conflict of interest due to her children's work as government-empanelled lawyers.
However, Justice Sharma rejected these arguments, stating that a judge 'cannot abdicate judicial responsibility in the face of allegations' and that personal attacks on a judge are 'attacks on the institution itself'.
The controversy surrounding Justice Sharma has sparked a heated debate over the independence of the judiciary and the role of judges in high-profile cases.
