The Supreme Court has registered a civil writ petition based on a complaint-cum-representation submitted by Advocate Vineet Jindal seeking consideration of criminal contempt proceedings against the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) over a social media post targeting Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant.
The representation, submitted to the CJI on October 13, was registered as a writ petition on October 30, 2026.
The controversy arose after the official X handle of Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) published a post on October 12, 2026, addressing the CJI over his remarks concerning restrictions on protests in Delhi. The post stated:
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“Dear Surya Kant, If law and order is not your domain, resign now. We will find your replacement who can handle it.”
The post was subsequently deleted. KPCC President Sunny Joseph, in a reply dated October 22 to a legal notice issued by Supreme Court Bar Association Joint Secretary Meenesh Dubey, tendered an unconditional apology to the CJI.
The party stated that the post had been published by party worker Vijay Thottathil without the knowledge, consent or consultation of the state leadership. He was subsequently removed from his responsibilities.
However, before that on October 13, Advocate Vineet Jindal had written to CJI to consider suo motu criminal contempt proceedings over the Congress Kerala post, questioning whether it crossed the limits of permissible political criticism. He also sought an examination of the October 12 demonstration near the Supreme Court, reportedly involving Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders, and requested verification of possible security breaches, unauthorised entry or obstruction, along with preservation of CCTV footage and access-control records.