Former Bar President and Senior Advocate Kirti Uppal has written to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court raising concerns over what he described as attempts to undermine judicial independence by publicly imputing bias to a sitting Judge of the Court.

In his letter dated 12 March 2026, he referred to media reports concerning a litigant’s request seeking transfer of a pending matter on the ground of an alleged apprehension of bias. He stated that publicly questioning the impartiality of a Judge on the basis of courtroom observations risks eroding public confidence in the judiciary and undermining the institutional dignity of the Court.

He stated – “In my view of the matter, the act of publicly casting aspersions on the fairness and impartiality of a sitting Judge of this Hon’ble Court, without any legally sustainable basis, strikes at the very root of the administration of justice. Such conduct has the tendency to scandalise the Court and undermine public confidence in the institution of the judiciary.”

Further he said – “If the litigant concerned genuinely entertained any apprehension, the proper course would have been to make an appropriate representation in accordance with established judicial conventions, without simultaneously placing such allegations in the public domain. The public dissemination of such allegations appears to be calculated to play to the galleries and to advance extraneous considerations at the cost of the dignity of this august institution.

Such conduct, in my respectful view, prima facie constitutes an attempt to scandalise the Court and falls within the ambit of criminal contempt, inasmuch as it has the tendency to lower the authority of this Hon’ble Court and to interfere with the due administration of justice.”

He further cautioned that entertaining such public allegations could encourage forum shopping and set an unhealthy precedent affecting the administration of justice. Uppal urged the Chief Justice to take cognisance of the issue and consider appropriate action (including criminal contempt) in accordance with law.