/
Supreme Court registers petition seeking contempt action over Kerala Congress post targeting CJI Surya Kant
The Supreme Court registered, as a writ petition on 30 October, an advocate's letter seeking contempt action against the Kerala Congress over a deleted 12 October X post targeting CJI Surya Kant. The KPCC says leaders did not know of the post and has apologised. No bench has been assigned.
P
3 min
The Supreme Court has registered a petition seeking contempt proceedings against the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee over a social media post that targeted Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. The post appeared on the official Congress Keralam account on X on 12 October, went viral, drew sharp criticism and was deleted. Advocate Vineet Jindal wrote to the Chief Justice about it on 13 October, and according to the court's website the letter was registered as a writ petition on 30 October. The KPCC has said that the post was made without the knowledge of its leaders and has tendered an unconditional apology.
The post and the letter
The post is reported to have read: 'If law and order is not your domain, resign now.' It was published on 12 October, the day of an opposition march near the Supreme Court. Jindal's letter to the Chief Justice, dated 13 October, sought contempt action against the party. It was registered as a civil writ petition and is not described as a case taken up by the court on its own motion.
What the petition asks
The letter asks the court to examine:
- Whether the post amounts to criminal contempt.
- Whether any restricted area was entered, or any security protocol breached, during the opposition march near the court on 12 October.
- Whether a political demonstration and slogan-shouting on the court premises that evening, reportedly involving Rahul Gandhi and other leaders, was unauthorised or obstructed advocates, litigants, judicial officers or staff.
- The preservation of CCTV footage, access-control logs and security deployment records.
Jindal said in the letter that a peaceful demonstration or political slogans alone do not establish contempt. No bench has been assigned, and the petition is yet to be listed for hearing, according to one report.
In a 22 October reply to a legal notice from Meenesh Dubey, joint secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said that the post was published by party worker Vijay Thottathil without the knowledge, consent or consultation of the party's leadership, and that he has been removed from his post. The KPCC tendered an unconditional apology to the Chief Justice. Joseph said that the Congress has no disagreement with the judiciary's impartiality.
On 15 October a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the Congress, Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders on a separate plea about the march. The bench declined to issue notice on the contempt prayer concerning the Kerala post, according to one report.
Registration of a letter as a petition is a procedural step, and it does not mean that the court has found the post to be contempt. The coverage differs slightly on how to describe it, with some outlets calling it contempt proceedings and others saying that the court registered a writ petition on a complaint. One report says that the matter is expected to be heard on 6 November, which other reports found do not confirm.
The reports found do not say which bench will hear the petition, whether the court will issue notice to the party, or what it will do with the KPCC's apology. They do not say whether the court has looked at the security arrangements for the 12 October march beyond the earlier notice.
P
3 min
What did you think?
