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Delhi’s much-discussed excise policy (liquor scam) case took an unexpected and shocking turn on Monday, which has created a stir from legal circles to political circles. Justice Swarnkanta Sharma, who is hearing this very high-profile alleged corruption case involving the top leadership of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi High Court, has recused herself from the case.

After this sudden and major reshuffle in the court roster, now High Court Justice Manoj Jain will take command of this entire case. He is going to start regular hearing from tomorrow i.e. Tuesday by taking a tough stance on this case. This change is being considered very sensitive from the point of view of country’s politics and court proceedings, because this decision has come at the same time when the legal war between the investigating agency and senior leaders of Aam Aadmi Party has reached its peak.

Kejriwal and Sisodia had raised questions on the judge, boycotted it

This whole drama and big incident started when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and ‘AAP’ MLA Durgesh Pathak raised serious questions on the impartiality of Justice Swarnakanta Sharma’s court. These leaders had clearly refused to appear in his court. Aam Aadmi Party leaders took a strong decision to completely boycott the court proceedings not only personally but also through their lawyers. These three big leaders of AAP had written a formal letter to Judge Swarankanta Sharma registering their objections and had clearly said that they will not be a part of this court proceeding.

Contempt proceedings started after video went viral on social media

Let us tell you that the history of this case in the court of Justice Swarnakanta Sharma has been surrounded by a lot of controversies. Even before this, an application was filed in the court by Arvind Kejriwal and other co-accused demanding that the judge recuse himself from hearing the case. However, at that time Justice Swarnakanta Sharma had rejected all these applications outright.

After this, many videos and posts were shared by the accused on social media and different digital platforms regarding this entire court process. Justice Sharma took very strict cognizance of these social media posts and videos. He considered it a direct attack on the dignity and respect of the court and ordered to initiate serious criminal contempt proceedings against a total of 6 senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Vinay Mishra, Durgesh Pathak and Saurabh Bhardwaj. This big case of contempt is also listed for hearing tomorrow on Tuesday before the division bench headed by Justice Naveen Chawla.

The decision of the trial court, which acquitted everyone, was shocking.

This entire legal battle actually flared up again when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) approached the High Court against a lower court decision. Earlier, on February 27 this year, Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Trial Court had given a historic and shocking verdict in this alleged liquor policy scam. The trial court has arrested Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and BRS leader K. All 23 accused including Kavita were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

In its decision, the court not only gave huge relief to all the leaders, but also strongly criticized the entire investigation done by the CBI in this case and the methods of gathering evidence. This acquittal decision of the trial court has been challenged by the central investigating agency CBI in the Delhi High Court, demanding immediate cancellation of the order acquitting all the leaders.

There will be a litmus test in front of the new judge, on which side will the camel sit?

This sudden change in the roster of the High Court is going to prove to be very decisive in deciding the future direction and condition of the Delhi Excise Policy case. Justice Manoj Jain, who has emerged as the new judge, will now face strong arguments from the accused on one hand to maintain the acquittal decision of the trial court, while on the other hand there will be sharp objections from the CBI which wants to revive the investigation of this closed case.

Along with this, on the other hand, the criminal contempt proceedings going on in the Division Bench may once again increase the political and legal troubles of AAP leaders. Now the eyes of the whole country are fixed on this interesting legal dispute going on between the power of the country’s capital and the biggest courts of the country, which side will this camel of liquor policy sit on after the arrival of the new bench.