Supreme Court Plea Seeks Contempt Action Over Kerala Congress, Mahua Moitra Posts On CJI

A day after the official handle of the Kerala Congress posted on X demanding Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant's resignation, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking guidelines to prohibit political parties from running public campaigns targeting a judge or the CJI over pending matters, outside the constitutionally prescribed procedure for the removal of judges.

The Kerala Congress, in a post on Monday, wrote, "Dear Surya Kant, If law and order is not your domain, resign now. We will find your replacement who can handle it."

The petition alleged that the now-deleted post addressed the CJI by name without the customary courtesy and sought to exert pressure on a sitting Chief Justice who had declined to discuss sub judice matters outside the courtroom.

It also cited a post by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, who wrote, "Surya clearly Can't. So we will."

Apart from the Union government, the plea has named the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, Mahua Moitra and Akhilesh Yadav as respondents.

The petition contends that Articles 121 and 124(4) of the Constitution prescribe the procedure for the removal of judges. It alleges that the Kerala Congress unit's demand for the CJI's resignation amounted to an attempt to intimidate him, which is impermissible under the constitutional framework.

It further argues that the suggestion that a political party would choose the CJI's successor runs contrary to the constitutionally established process for judicial appointments.

The plea also cites resolutions passed by the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association condemning calls for the CJI's resignation.

It seeks the initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against the respondents after issuing notices and giving them an opportunity to be heard.

The petition has been filed by advocates Digant Mishra, Divyansh Bisht, Ashish Gopal Garg and Shweta Garg through Advocate-on-Record Utkarsh Jaiswal.