The Delhi High Court has granted a four-week period to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and Sanjay Singh, to respond to a criminal contempt case initiated against them. The case pertains to their social media posts that allegedly ‘vilified’ Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma.
The court’s decision came after the counsel for the former Chief Minister stated that he was yet to receive the material that formed the basis of the contempt case. Similar submissions were made by lawyers representing other parties. The court has instructed the registry to supply the necessary material to the respondents.
In addition to the AAP leaders, the court has also given four weeks to AAP leader Gopal Rai and journalist Saurav Das to file their replies in a petition seeking contempt action against them. The petition alleges that they were part of an ‘orchestrated social media campaign’ against Justice Swarana Sharma. The case has been posted for further hearing on September 21.
The contempt case was initiated by Justice Sharma on May 14, following the AAP leaders’ social media posts that allegedly targeted her in relation to the excise policy case. The judge took exception to several posts that attributed ‘political allegiance’ and ‘affiliation’ to her, as well as a misleading edited video of a speech she gave at an educational institution in Varanasi.
On May 19, the court had issued notice to Mr. Kejriwal, Mr. Sisodia, and others in the criminal contempt case, granting them four weeks to file their response.
