Hearing pleas by Lalu and Robert Vadra, Delhi HC Justice Manoj Jain will now take up Kejriwal’s ‘liquor scam’ case

The allegedly contemptuous posts by the AAP leaders were made after Justice Sharma refused to recuse from hearing the pleas filed by the CBI and ED in the excise policy case.

While transferring the cases out of her court, Justice Sharma had clarified that the transfer “should not be understood as this court transferring the matter merely because demands for recusal were made which were rejected by a detailed order…”.

CBI has a revision plea pending before the HC challenging the discharge of the 23 accused in the case by a trial court in February. The ED has sought the expungement of alleged adverse remarks made against the agency by the trial court.

While the pleas by the CBI and ED will be heard by Justice Manoj Jain, the suo motu contempt proceedings will be heard by a Division Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja, also on Tuesday.

According to the current roster, Justice Jain deals with criminal matters, including pleas for bail, criminal appeals of the year 2026, and cases relating to sexual harassment.

As per instructions on the administrative side of the Delhi HC, all criminal revision petitions of the year 2021 pending before the Bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, except criminal cases relating to sitting/ former Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly, are heard by Justice Manoj Jain.

Justice Jain obtained a degree in law from Panjab University, Chandigarh in 1986, and joined the Delhi Judicial Service in 1992. He was promoted to the Delhi Higher Judicial Service in 2003.

Justice Jain served as the Director (Academics) at the Delhi Judicial Academy, and as the Registrar General of the HC before he was elevated to the Bench. He was sworn in as an additional judge of the Delhi HC in May 2023, and was made a permanent judge in July 2024.

Justice Jain has presided over civil, criminal, and family law cases, and is no stranger to cases involving political leaders. He is currently hearing a challenge by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad against a trial court’s order framing corruption and criminal conspiracy charges against him and members of his family in the alleged land-for-jobs scam.

In March, Justice Jain had restrained the CBI from examining approvers in the case until the court had decided on the petitions filed by Lalu Prasad and his aide Bhola Yadav.

Justice Jain was part of a Division Bench led by Justice Suresh Kait in the Delhi HC that heard the bail pleas of the accused in the larger conspiracy case in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.

As a single judge, he is hearing a plea by businessman Robert Vadra, the husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, challenging the charges framed against him and issuing summons to him in a case of alleged money laundering in a 2008 Gurgaon land deal.

Justice Jain had earlier dealt with a case involving a dispute over the custody of a pet involving Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai.

In late 2024 early 2025, Justice Jain had flagged a recurring trend where individuals were forced to approach the court for relief after banks froze entire accounts on suspicion of fraudulent transactions.

In December 2024, Justice Jain had also briefly dealt with a contempt petition filed by former diplomat Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri against TMC MP Saket Gokhale for failing to comply with the directions of court in a 2021 defamation suit filed by Puri.