Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma recuses from hearing Karti Chidambaram’s plea; case to be heard by new bench

DElhi heights margaret court adjudicate justness Swarana Kanta Sharma on tues recused herself from hearing Congress MP Karti Chidambaram’s petition seeking to quash a CBI FIR accusing him of helping UK-based liquor company Diageo Scotland secure the lifting of a ban on duty-free sale of its whisky in India.When the matter was taken up, the judge said Karti’s plea, along with a connected petition filed by Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd (ASCPL) seeking identical relief, would have to be heard by another bench. She did not specify the reason for stepping aside.“This will have to go. List before another bench,” justice Sharma said, while fixing July 21 as the next date of hearing.Kejriwal, Sisodia boycott of proceedingsThe recusal comes at a time when former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leader Manish Sisodia have chosen not to participate in proceedings before justice Sharma in the CBI’s appeal against their discharge in the Delhi excise policy case, pending before her bench, after she rejected their recusal plea alleging conflict of interest.On April 20, the judge dismissed the applications filed by Kejriwal, Sisodia and others, holding there was no “demonstrable cause” for recusal and cautioning that stepping aside merely on perceived bias would set a disturbing precedent. Following the order, Kejriwal wrote to the judge on Monday and Sisodia sent a similar letter on Tuesday, stating they would boycott the hearing.Karti’s petitions were earlier listed before Justices Vikas Mahajan and Ravinder Dudeja, and came before Justice Sharma’s bench for the first time following a change in roster.CBI alleges ‘suspicious’ fund transfersOn January 1, 2025, the CBI registered a case against the Congress leader under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The agency alleged that Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd, “an entity controlled by him and his close friend S Bhaskararaman”, received “suspicious” fund transfers from liquor company Diageo as well as venture capital fund Sequoia Capital.According to the FIR, Diageo used to import duty-free whisky, but the Indian Tourism Development Corporation, which had a monopoly over the sale of imported duty-free liquor, imposed an embargo in 2005 on the sale of Diageo duty-free products, causing heavy losses to the company.The FIR further alleged that Diageo approached Karti and, as part of a conspiracy to have the ban lifted, paid USD 15,000 to ASCPL for influencing public servants to remove the restriction.The case was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by a CBI inspector after a preliminary enquiry initiated in June 2018. Apart from Karti and Bhaskararaman, the FIR also named ASCPL, Diageo Scotland, Mauritius-based Sequoia Capital and Vasan Healthcare Pvt Ltd.Karti cites delay, lack of evidence in pleaIn his petition, Karti contended that despite conducting a preliminary enquiry for nearly seven years, the CBI failed to identify or name any public servant allegedly influenced by him. He also said he was never called to join the enquiry or given an opportunity to be heard.“There is gross delay in registration of the impugned FIR as much as the allegations pertain to the period of 2004-2010, whereas the subject FIR has been registered in 2025, i.e. After 20 years,” the plea stated.