NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday listed for hearing on November 16 a criminal contempt case against AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and others over allegedly “vilifying” social media posts targeting Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma.A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Arun Bhardwaj granted Kejriwal and the other accused four weeks to file their replies.Kejriwal’s senior counsel told the court that he was yet to receive the complete material on the basis of which the contempt proceedings were initiated. The bench directed the registry to provide the material, which was stated to be incomplete.“Reply, if any, to be filed in four weeks,” the bench said.The court also listed for November 16 a separate contempt petition filed by lawyer Ashok Chaitanya against Kejriwal and others, including AAP leader Gopal Rai and journalist Saurav Das. The petition alleges that they were part of an “orchestrated social media campaign” against Justice Sharma.
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Justice Sharma had initiated criminal contempt proceedings on May 14 against Kejriwal, Sisodia, Singh and other AAP leaders, including Durgesh Pathak, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Vinay Mishra, over allegedly “vilifying” social media posts concerning her handling of the Delhi excise policy case. Contempt proceedings were also initiated against X user Devesh Vishwakarma.It was further noted the circulation of clips from court proceedings and said the proposed contemnors were attempting to create a “parallel narrative”. She observed that “remaining silent” in such circumstances would not amount to judicial restraint but a “surrender before a powerful litigant”.The contempt proceedings stem from the excise policy case. On February 27, a trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others, holding that the prosecution’s case could not withstand judicial scrutiny.
