NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court on Friday issued show-cause notice to all office-bearers of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), including its President and Secretary, asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them over a now-deleted social media post directed at Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Live Law reported. A Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi exempted the office-bearers from personal appearance for now.

Source: Live Law

The notice marks the first substantive hearing in the case since the Court registered advocate Vineet Jindal's letter as a writ petition on October 30 — the development Awaaz Punjab reported earlier — and it widens the proceedings from the KPCC President alone to every office-bearer of the state unit. The Bench said it would examine whether the material warrants the exercise of its powers under Article 129 of the Constitution, and clarified that it has expressed no opinion on the merits at this stage, Live Law reported.

Source: Live Law

"The Constitution is supreme; no individual or political organisation stands above it. Independence of the judiciary is not a matter of political convenience," the Bench said, adding that while judgments are always open to criticism, "freedom of expression cannot be a shield for intimidation or interference with the administration of justice." Any attempt to undermine the authority of the court "needs to be dealt with an iron hand," the Bench said, warning that judicial restraint must never be mistaken for institutional weakness, Verdictum reported.

Source: Verdictum

Apology 'from the pen or the heart'

Appearing for the KPCC, Senior Advocate Ramesh Babu accepted notice and told the Court the post was uploaded on the official handle without the approval or consent of the office-bearers, was taken down the same day it came to the committee's notice, and that an unconditional apology would be filed by affidavit. The Bench responded that it would examine whether the apology had come "from the pen or the heart," Verdictum reported. Counsel told the Court the office-bearers number more than forty to fifty persons, including the President, Vice-Presidents, Secretaries, Treasurers and Joint Secretaries.

Source: Verdictum

The post at the centre of the case appeared on October 12 on the Congress Kerala unit's official X handle and read: "Dear Surya Kant, If law and order is not your domain, resign now. We will find your replacement who can handle it." It was deleted after widespread criticism. The KPCC has maintained the post was uploaded by a party worker, named in its October 22 reply as Vijay Thottathil, without the leadership's knowledge, and KPCC President Sunny Joseph tendered an unconditional apology, Bar and Bench reported. The matter will be heard next on December 15, Bar and Bench reported.

Source: Bar and Bench

The Bench indicated it may appoint Senior Advocates Arvind Datar and Siddharth Agarwal as amicus curiae to assist it on whether criminal or civil contempt should be initiated under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and also requested the Attorney General to assist, Live Law reported. The case is titled Vineet Jindal & Anr. v. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, W.P.(C) No. 1431/2026.

Source: Live Law

This hearing follows the Court's earlier step of registering the advocate's letter as a writ petition. Read the earlier story