Delhi High Court transfers excise policy case, starts contempt proceedings
The Delhi High Court has handed the controversial excise policy case to a new bench and initiated contempt proceedings against certain respondents and other contemnors for allegedly circulating defamatory comments about the court online.
The case centers on Delhi's 2021-22 liquor policy, which tried to privatize alcohol sales but got tangled in corruption claims.
This all follows a dispute over whether Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma should step away from the case.
Kejriwal sought recusal of Justice Sharma
Kejriwal had asked for Justice Sharma's recusal, saying she was biased, but she refused and emphasized the importance of judicial independence.
In protest, Kejriwal and his team boycotted her bench, calling it their Satyagraha.
After the case was moved to a different bench this week, Kejriwal called it "Truth has won. Gandhi ji's Satyagraha has triumphed once again," though Justice Sharma clarified that her recusal wasn't why the transfer happened.
The whole episode has sparked bigger conversations about how politicians talk about judges, and vice versa.