New Delhi, 28 October (H.S.): The Supreme Court has directed Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut to appear in person before it on November 17 in a contempt of court case over his remarks concerning Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and the judiciary. The order was passed by a Bench headed by Justice Aravind Kumar.

The court also directed journalist Nikhil Wagle to appear through video conferencing. On October 16, a Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant had ordered the issuance of contempt notices to Wagle and Raut, seeking their responses on a petition filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.

During the earlier hearing, the Chief Justice had observed that courts had never shied away from protecting personal liberty or other fundamental rights, describing attacks on the institution as deeply unfortunate.

He said people had consistently approached the courts whenever their personal liberty or other rights were threatened, and the judiciary had always acted to safeguard those rights. He added that it was particularly unfortunate when the very people who sought judicial protection subsequently condemned, criticised or launched sharp attacks on the courts.

Wagle and Raut had criticised the Chief Justice’s decision to reject a request from a delegation of Opposition parties led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for a personal meeting regarding the functioning of the Election Commission.

Reacting to a report in an English-language daily about the Chief Justice’s decision, Wagle had posted an abusive remark directed at the CJI on his X account. He subsequently deleted the post and apologised for it.

Raut, meanwhile, had claimed that 80 judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts had been seen playing badminton with political leaders in London. His remarks, along with Wagle’s post, became the subject of the contempt proceedings.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar