HC tells sites to remove videos from Kejriwal recusal hearing

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed social media intermediaries, including X Corp (formerly Twitter) and Google, to immediately take down video recordings of former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal arguing his plea seeking the recusal of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma in the excise policy case. AAP National Convener and Former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Sunita Kejriwal appeared in Delhi high Court on Liquor policy case in New Delhi (ANI)The direction was issued by a bench of justices V Kameshwar Rao and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora while hearing a petition filed by advocate Vaibhav Singh. The petition also sought initiation of contempt proceedings against Kejriwal and others for allegedly violating rules on online hearings under the Electronic Evidence and Video Recording Conference Rules, 2025, which prohibit the recording and publication of court proceedings, claiming that “selective parts” of the recordings were uploaded to serve a political agenda. The high court further observed that intermediaries, under the IT Rules, are required to make reasonable efforts to ensure that users do not host, upload, publish, transmit, or share content that violates the law. Noting that, “IT Rules 2021 specifically Rule 3(1)(b) states the following. A perusal would reveal that the intermediary has as an obligation to take reasonable efforts by itself or to cause users of its computer resource to not host, display, upload, publish, transmit, store or share any information that violates law,” it directed both Google (which owns YouTube) and X Corp to remove the videos or links to them. Also read: Delhi HC judge Tejas Karia recuses from hearing plea against Arvind Kejriwal It also observed that no one appeared on behalf of X (formerly Twitter) during the hearing, while counsel for Meta Platforms and Google submitted that, in compliance with directions issued by the High Court’s Registrar General last week, the impugned content had been removed from Meta Platforms and YouTube. However, advocate Vaibhav Singh pointed out that some content was still available on YouTube. Counsel for Meta Platforms and Google further submitted that it is not technically feasible to identify all offending posts on social media platforms, and that they do not have the technology to trace the original uploaders of such content. The court also issued notice in the petition, asking Kejriwal, along with Congress leader Digvijay Singh, journalist Ravish Kumar and Aam Aadmi Party leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Sanjeev Jha, Jarnail Singh, Mukesh Ahlawat, and Vinay Mishra to respond. The matter will be next heard on July 6. Also read: Setback for Kejriwal after Delhi HC judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma refuses to recuse in excise policy case On February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others, holding that the CBI’s material did not disclose even a prima facie case. The agency challenged this in the high court, calling the findings “inherently wrong” and claiming they ignored key evidence. Then, on March 9, Justice Sharma’s bench stayed the trial court’s direction for action against the CBI officer, terming the remarks “prima facie foundationally misconceived”, and deferred ED proceedings. Following this, Kejriwal sought the transfer of the appeal from Justice Sharma’s bench, which was rejected on March 13. Also read: ‘Arvind Kejriwal is a bully’: BJP MP over AAP chief’s judge recusal plea He then filed an application seeking Justice Sharma’s recusal, for which he appeared in court on April 6 and on April 13, arguing his application for over an hour – videos of which went viral on various social media platforms. On Monday, Justice Sharma dismissed the recusal applications.