Liquor policy case: Seeking judge’s recusal, Kejriwal says her children are Centre’s counsel

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday filed a fresh affidavit seeking that Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma recuse herself from hearing the Central Bureau of Investigation’s challenge to his discharge in the Delhi liquor policy case, flagging her children’s empanelment with the Union Government, Live Law reported.

Kejriwal’s affidavit stated that advocates Ishaan Sharma and Shambhavi Sharma, the judge’s son and daughter, have been empanelled as counsels by the Centre.

Kejriwal highlighted that they are both allocated cases by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is appearing before the court representing the CBI, Hindustan Times reported.

“The very law officer and legal establishment representing the prosecuting side before this Hon’ble Court is also part of the institutional mechanism by which Central Government cases and Government work are allocated to the immediate family members of the Hon’ble Judge hearing the matter,” Kejriwal said.

An empanelled counsel is a lawyer selected by a government body, public sector undertaking or organization to represent their legal cases for a designated period.

Kejriwal argued that the apprehensions of bias are “direct, grave and impossible to ignore”, Live Law reported.

On Wednesday, the former Delhi chief minister told the court that he had not been given enough time to file a rejoinder and had left the courtroom on Monday with the court’s permission as the hearing continued beyond the usual court hours,...

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