Delhi HC judge Swarana Kanta Sharma to decide on recusal in Kejriwal case

The Delhi High Court judge refused Arvind Kejriwal's request for recusal in the ongoing excise policy case, as reported on April 20, 2026.

Delhi High Court judge Swarana Kanta Sharma refused to recuse from hearing the liquor policy case, stating that personal apprehension has not crossed the threshold of bias and that recusal must stem from the law, not narrative. She described this as a defining moment for the court, and noted that refusal to recuse would avoid surrender to external influence. She added that if the court were to recuse, it would signal that institutions can be bent or changed. The judge also referred to issues around the registry's handling of Kejriwal's rejoinder and an additional affidavit filed by him, saying the court went out of its way to accommodate him despite him not being represented by a lawyer at that stage.

The CBI opposed Kejriwal's plea seeking Justice Sharma's recusal in the liquor policy case, arguing that accepting the contention could set a problematic precedent for judges hearing cases involving governments or political figures.

Kejriwal's move to transfer the liquor policy case was rejected last month, as reported in the context of ongoing proceedings.

Kejriwal, AAP's Manish Sisodia and 21 others were discharged by a trial court on February 27 in the excise policy case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma is scheduled to pronounce her verdict on whether she should recuse herself from the excise policy case at 4:30 PM.

Kejriwal argued his own recusal petition in the Delhi High Court during the week preceding the decision, described in the report as last week.

Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and four others filed petitions seeking the judge's recusal. The recusal plea included grounds like potential conflict of interest due to Sharma's son and daughter being empanelled as Centre counsel; the plea referenced the Supreme Court's Ranjit Thakur ruling. The CBI opposed the plea.

The transfer petition seeking to reassign the case was rejected.

Kejriwal moved for transfer of the case to another judge; the request was later rejected.

Justice Sharma, at the first hearing of the CBI's petition, stayed the trial court's direction for departmental proceedings against a CBI investigating officer and described some of the trial court's observations as 'prima facie misconceived'.

The trial court discharged Arvind Kejriwal and 22 other accused in the Delhi excise policy case, concluding that the CBI's material did not form a case worth going to trial.

Sharma was elevated as a permanent judge of the Delhi High Court.

She completed her LLM degree in 2004.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma completed her LLB degree in 1991.