Today, Supreme Court Justice Sanjay Kumar recused himself from presiding over the bail plea of Hyderabad businessman Abhishek Boinpally, who is implicated in the Delhi Liquor Policy case.

When the bench comprising of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar addressed Boinpally's special leave petition, challenging a Delhi High Court's July 2023 judgment denying him bail, Justice Khanna remarked when the case was called out,

"This will go before another bench...my brother will not be able to...subject to orders of Hon'ble the Chief Justice, re-list before another bench of which one of us is not [a member]".

The case was rescheduled for the week beginning August 5, 2024, with interim bail instructed to remain in effect.

Additionally, Justice Kumar recently recused himself from the hearing of former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia's bail plea concerning the Delhi Liquor Policy case

Boinpally, formerly a director at Robin Distilleries LLP and implicated as a middleman, is under investigation in the Delhi Liquor Policy case. He was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in October 2022 but obtained bail a month later. However, his relief was short-lived as Special Judge MK Nagpal concurrently granted the Enforcement Directorate's request to detain Boinpally for five days. Consequently, in October 2022, he returned to custody.

Initially, Boinpally sought bail from both the Special Court and the Delhi High Court, but his requests were rejected. The Special Judge concluded that Boinpally was a key figure representing the South Group in the alleged cartelization, actively involved in kickbacks and their recovery. The High Court upheld the Special Judge's decision, emphasizing the seriousness of the accusations and the presence of credible evidence on record, thereby dismissing Boinpally's bail application.

Challenging the High Court's decision, Boinpally approached the Supreme Court, which granted him interim bail on March 20 this year. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the matter, leading to the first extension of interim bail on April 29. Subsequently, on May 7, the interim bail was extended once more.