Justice Manoj Jain Of Delhi High Court To Hear CBI's Plea Against Discharge Of Arvind Kejriwal, Others In Excise Policy Case
Nupur Thapliyal
18 May 2026 11:33 AM IST
Justice Manoj Jain of Delhi High Court will hear tomorrow CBI's petition challenging discharge of AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and all other accused in the corruption case related to the alleged liquor policy scam.
The development comes after Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who was hearing the matter earlier as per roster, transferred it to another bench.
The transfer was done after she initiated contempt proceedings against Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Vinay Mishra, Durgesh Pathak and Saurabh Bharadwaj.
The contempt proceedings are also listed tomorrow before a division bench headed by Justice Navin Chawla.
Contempt action was initiated after Justice Sharma took note of note various social media posts and videos shared by the respondents in connection with the recusal proceedings.
She had earlier rejected the recusal applications like by Kejriwal and others.
On February 27, the trial court discharged all the 23 accused persons in the case, including political leaders Kejriwal, Sisodia and K Kavitha. The trial court had also severely criticised the CBI's investigation in the case.
It may be noted that the case had become politically controversial, as Kejriwal was arrested and remanded to the custody amidst the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He was later granted bail by the Supreme Court after 156 days of custody. AAP leader Manish Sisodia also spent 530 days in custody in the case.
The CBI's revision against the trial court's order was heard by Justice Sharma, who on March 9, prima facie observed that the trial court's observations were erroneous.
Later, Kejriwal and some other accused, including Sisodia, filed applications seeking recusal of Justice Sharma on ground of apprehension of bias. Last week, Justice Sharma, dismissed the recusal applications and decided to hear the matter herself.
Thereafter, Kejriwal and Sisodia wrote to Justice Sharma stating that they are boycotting the hearing before her and will not appear, either in person or through a counsel.
Case Title: CBI v. Kuldeep Singh & Ors
