New Delhi, Oct 15: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Congress, Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders on a plea seeking restrictions on political demonstrations in court premises following the Opposition’s march to the apex court on October 12 and social media posts targeting Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant. A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi sought responses to the petition filed by four lawyers.
Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia, appearing for the petitioners, argued that demonstrations within court premises amounted to an attempt to intimidate the judiciary. “Nobody can browbeat the judiciary,” the CJI observed.
“We are not sitting in ivory towers. We know what statements they are making outside and what they are saying in Court. We know everything,” he said. The petition also sought criminal contempt action against the Congress’s Kerala unit over an X post that told the CJI to resign and said the party would find his replacement.
However, the bench declined to issue notice on the contempt plea at this stage. “No contempt today. We are only issuing notice. Let us see what the response is, and then we will take it forward,” the CJI said, according to Bar & Bench. The plea also named Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav among the respondents.
