New Delhi: Supreme Court Friday issued show-cause notices to Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut and journalist Nikhil Wagle in criminal contempt proceedings over their public remarks concerning Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and the judiciary.
A bench comprising the CJI and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, however, exempted Raut and Wagle from personal appearance on the next date of hearing, saying it would first consider their explanations.
The show-cause notices were issued on a contempt plea filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).
SCBA President and senior advocate Pradeep Rai alleged that the remarks by Raut and Wagle went beyond the bounds of fair criticism and were capable of undermining public confidence in the Supreme Court.
Expressing concern over statements targeting the judiciary, the CJI observed that courts had consistently upheld personal liberty and fundamental rights, making attacks on the institution particularly unfortunate.
The SCBA pressed for the personal appearance of the respondents. The bench, however, decided to issue show-cause notices first.
“We are giving a show-cause as of now. Of course we are granting exemption for personal appearance. Let us see,” the bench said.
Earlier, Attorney General R Venkataramani had granted consent for initiating criminal contempt proceedings under Section 15(1)(b) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
The SCBA filed its petition on October 15 and Venkataramani granted consent the same day.
The controversy followed the CJI’s decision to decline a request for a personal meeting by a delegation of opposition parties, indicating that the matter could instead be brought before the court through a petition.
According to the SCBA’s petition, Wagle subsequently posted an allegedly abusive remark directed at the CJI on his X account.
Meanwhile, Wagle on Thursday shared on X a letter addressed to the attorney general in which he tendered an unconditional apology to the CJI and the Supreme Court.
The journalist said he had deleted the earlier post and requested that the contempt matter not be pursued further.
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Raut also made some alleged objectionable remarks.
The SCBA has challenged Raut’s remarks, saying that the allegations against the judiciary were contrary to the available record.
The petition cited a June 19 order of the Delhi High Court, which found that photographs circulated as showing a badminton event in London were actually from an event held at Delhi’s Thyagaraj Stadium in November 2025.
The high court had directed the removal of the content. In his consent letter, the attorney general said the remarks attributed to Wagle were abusive and inappropriate for public consumption.
Regarding Raut’s allegations, the top law officer said claims about judges attending BJP programmes and chief ministers hosting dinners were not supported by facts.
He also noted that the Delhi High Court’s order on the photographs preceded Raut’s statement. Venkataramani said an MP should have verified the facts before making allegations of such a nature.
The SCBA said that it did not seek to curtail fair criticism of the judiciary.
However, the statements in question crossed that line and could scandalise the court and diminish its authority, the bar body said.
The SCBA has also sought directions to X Corp, Meta, Google and others to preserve relevant posts, videos and account records.
It has also sought a direction that Raut and Wagle be restrained from making similar allegations against the CJI and Supreme Court judges while the proceedings remain pending.