Supreme Court issued contempt notice to all office-bearers of the Keralam unit of Congress over a social media post targeting Chief Justice of India Surya Kant
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi said the Constitution is supreme and judicial independence is not a matter of political convenience
The court said freedom of expression cannot be used as a shield of intimidation to interfere with the administration of justice
On Friday, the Supreme Court sent a contempt notice to every office-bearer of the Congress’s Keralam unit over a social media post aimed at Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi said the Constitution is supreme and no person or political organisation is above it.
The bench said judicial independence cannot depend on "political convenience". It added: "Judgements are always open to criticism. Freedom of expression can’t be a shield of intimidation to interfere with the administration of justice. Howsoever high position a person occupies, any attempt to undermine the authority of the court needs to be dealt with an iron hand."
Court’s Sharp Remarks
The bench further said: “Authority of the court doesn’t require political endorsement; it rests on the rule of law. Where administration of justice is established, the law must take its course,” and that judicial restraint must never be mistaken for institutional weakness.
At the hearing, counsel for the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee told the court the post went up without approval from the office-bearers and was later taken down. He also said an unconditional apology had been issued. Justice Kumar said the court would look into “whether it has come from the pen or heart”.
Amicus And Complaint
The bench said it will name senior advocates Arvind Datar and Siddharth Agarwal as amicus curiae to examine whether the case attracts criminal or civil contempt, and it asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to assist. The official X account of the Keralam unit of Congress posted against the CJI on October 12, and the message spread widely before it was deleted. The party later said it had removed the person responsible.
PTI also reported that advocate Vineet Jindal’s complaint to the CJI on October 13 was taken up as a writ petition on October 30. It asked the court to examine whether a political demonstration and slogan-shouting on the Supreme Court premises on the evening of October 12, 2026, involving Rahul Gandhi and other political leaders, happened without permission or blocked advocates, litigants, judicial officers or court staff.
Earlier, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said the person behind the controversial post had been removed from the charge. He said the message went up without the knowledge, consent or consultation of the KPCC leadership. Joseph added that the Congress had no disagreement over the impartiality of the judiciary.
(With PTI Inputs)
