New Delhi: An attempt by former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and some of the others discharged in the liquor policy case to seek Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma’s recusal is “frivolous, vexatious and baseless” and a bid to undermine the dignity of the court, CBI has said.Opposing the plea by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, the probe agency in its reply earlier Delhi High Court has said that the recusal applications are based on “conjectures and surmises” and fail to fulfill the minimum legal threshold to question judicial impartiality.Mere dissatisfaction with interim observations or orders cannot be a ground for seeking a judge’s recusal, CBI said, warning that such practices, if entertained, would encourage “bench hunting” and erode judicial independence.It argued that observations made at the interim stage are tentative and not binding at the stage of final adjudication, and hence cannot be construed as bias.The agency also trashed one of the reasons furnished by Kejriwal and others, by pointing out that Sharma’s attending a seminar organized by Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad can’t be viewed as any ideological association.CBI said that several Supreme Court judges, including Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and numerous high court judges have attended functions by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated confederation of lawyers, adding that if the ground for Sharma’s recusal is accepted, all of them would have to disengage from hearing any case involving politically exposed people as accused.Kejriwal filed an application for Sharma’s recusal, claiming there was a grave, bona fide, and reasonable apprehension that the hearing in the matter before her would not be impartial and neutral.Her plea stated that she has heard multiple cases arising from the CBI FIR, including Kejriwal’s petition against his arrest, and never given relief to any of the accused.Besides Kejriwal, applications for her recusal were filed by AAP colleagues Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak. Other respondents, including Vijay Nair and Arun Ramchandra Pillai, also filed similar applications.CBI further said that different judges of the high court as well as Supreme Court have also rendered adverse findings in the liquor policy case, and if Kejriwal’s contention was to be accepted, all these judges would have to recuse.