India, April 20 -- In one of the most unusual legal dramas in India's recent political history, Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal argued his own case in the Delhi High Court last week - not the excise policy case, as such, that has dogged him for years, but his petition demanding that the judge hearing it step aside.

On Monday, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma pronounced her verdict that she would not recuse herself from the case.

"If this court was to recuse, it would be an act of surrender and a signal that institution including judge and the court can be bent, shaken and changed. Applications seeking recusal are rejected," she ruled.

So who is Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, and how did she become the centre of one of India's most ...