PoliticsCourts
Supreme Court issues contempt notice to Kerala Congress office-bearers over 'resign now' post on CJI
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi said any attempt to undermine the court must be dealt with 'an iron hand', and asked the Attorney General to assist.
Key points
- The Supreme Court issued a show-cause notice to all KPCC office-bearers on Friday.
- The post on the party's X handle told Chief Justice Surya Kant to 'resign now'.
- Counsel told the court an unconditional apology would be tendered; office-bearers need not appear in person.
The Supreme Court on Friday issued a show-cause notice to all office-bearers of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) in a contempt case over a post on the party’s official X handle that told Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to resign.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi was hearing a case the court had registered on its own motion from lawyers’ letters seeking criminal contempt action. “Any attempt to undermine the authority of the Court needs to be dealt with an iron hand,” the bench said.
The court accepted notice on behalf of the office-bearers and exempted them from appearing in person. It asked the Attorney General of India to assist, and indicated that senior advocate Arvind Datar and advocate Siddharth Agarwal would be appointed amici curiae.
The post
The post went up on the handle of Congress Kerala on October 12, while the Supreme Court was hearing petitions over alleged police excesses during the Cockroach Janta Party protests in Delhi. Addressed to the Chief Justice, it read: “Dear Surya Kant, If law and order is not your domain, resign now. We will find your replacement who can handle it.”
It was later deleted. The Supreme Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association condemned it, and advocate Vineet Jindal wrote to the Chief Justice on October 13 seeking contempt proceedings. His letter and one from Sreejesh SR were registered together as a suo motu petition at the end of October.
The party’s defence
Counsel for the Kerala Congress told the bench the post had been uploaded without the approval of office-bearers, was taken down, and was followed by an apology. The court recorded the submission that an “unconditional and unqualified apology would be tendered” for the material posted on the handle.
KPCC president Sunny Joseph had earlier written to the Bar Association that the post was made by Vijay Thottathil of the party’s media cell without the leadership’s approval. The party said it disapproved of the wording, and Thottathil was removed from his post.
Justice Kumar was not ready to take the apology at face value yet. “We will see whether it has come from the pen or heart,” he said. Pointing to the wider stakes, he added: “Tomorrow it may happen to every profession. We operate within the parameters of the Constitution.”
What comes next
The office-bearers must now answer the notice. The court has not yet named a date for the next hearing.
The case is one of several the Supreme Court is hearing over attacks on judges linked to the October protests. Earlier, a bench led by Justice Kumar had directed Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut to appear in a separate contempt plea brought by the Bar Association.