High Court Turns Down Bid to Disqualify AAP Leaders from Elections

In a significant ruling, the Delhi High Court has thrown out a petition that sought to prevent Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and two other AAP leaders from fighting elections. Filed by one Satish Kumar Agarwal, the plea alleged that the leaders tried to malign Justice Swarnakanta Sharma through public remarks and social media posts while she presided over the Delhi excise policy case. The petitioner contended that these actions tarnished the judiciary's image and breached political parties' obligations under the Representation of the People Act. A bench of Justices Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Tejas Karia heard the matter and concluded that the allegations lacked substance. The petition had demanded that the Election Commission deregister AAP and impose lifetime electoral bans on the four leaders. The court observed that the case was built on selective media coverage of statements made after Justice Sharma declined to step down from the high-profile matter. Legal experts believe the order sends a clear message against using judicial proceedings for political scoring.