Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has filed an additional affidavit before the Delhi high court seeking Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma's recusal from hearing CBI's appeal against their discharge in the excise policy case. Kejriwal contends that the judge's children are empanelled with the Centre and are allocated cases by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is contesting the appeal on behalf of the agency.
Kejriwal stated that Justice Sharma's son is empanelled as a Group A counsel representing the Centre before the Supreme Court, while her daughter is empanelled as a Group C counsel representing the Centre before the Supreme Court and also serves as a pleader for the Centre before the Delhi High Court.
He further noted that both are assigned matters by the SG, who is opposing the recusal plea before Justice Sharma and representing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case.
The affidavit stated that the apprehension of bias arising from this situation is direct, serious, and cannot be overlooked, as the same law officer and legal establishment representing the CBI before the judge is also part of the institutional framework responsible for allocating government work and case assignments to her children.
Kejriwal also highlighted that Justice Sharma's son has been entrusted with a significant volume of Central government legal work, with 2,487 cases assigned in 2023, 1,784 in 2024, and 1,633 in 2025.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor further stated that his apprehensions were heightened by the alleged denial of an opportunity to present rejoinder submissions on his recusal application, court's conduct of continuing and concluding the hearing on the applications beyond court hours, and recording in the order that he had left the court after making his submissions.
