After voluntarily refusing to appoint legal counsel to represent them in the CBI plea’s against the excise policy case discharge of 23 accused before the Delhi High Court, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak Monday reported their legal representatives before the court.

Vakalatnamas, a document authorising a lawyer to represent a litigant before court, have been filed by advocates Mudit Jain, Vivek Jain, Karan Sharma to represent the three. The three advocates have represented the AAP leaders in the past during proceedings in the trial court and the Delhi HC.

AAP chief Kejriwal, Sisodia and Pathak had opted to remain legally unrepresented before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma after she had refused to recuse herself from hearing the CBI’s revision plea challenging the discharge of 23 accused in the liquor policy case.

The leaders had expressed apprehension of bias if Justice Sharma decides the case, citing that her children are on the Union government’s advocates’ panels and are assigned cases by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is representing CBI in this case. The leaders had also objected to Justice Sharma’s alleged “public association with the RSS’s legal front Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad”.

The three leaders’ decision to remain legally unrepresented before Justice Sharma, as claimed by them, was a “satyagraha” move.

On May 14, Justice Sharma initiated suo motu criminal contempt against the three AAP leaders, and four others, and simultaneously transferred the CBI and ED’s pleas in the alleged liquor policy scam out of her court. The matters are now before Justice Manoj Jain.

On May 19, the HC issued fresh notice to the trio.

Taken up briefly on Monday, the court posted the matter to July 16, when it will draw up a schedule for hearing.