CJI takes exception to litigant’s father calling up his brother

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Wednesday (March 25, 2026) objected strongly to a litigant’s father calling up his brother to question an order passed by the apex court, at one point asking, “How dare he do that”.

The Chief Justice told the counsel for the litigant in open court that he had the mind to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against the person who rang up his brother.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Nikhil Kumar Punia, who is seeking minority reservation in medical admissions after converting to Buddhism. In a previous hearing in January, the court had pegged it as a “new kind of fraud”. The court had directed the State of Haryana to explain whether affluent upper-case general category candidates could claim quota benefits after converting to Buddhism.

On Wednesday (March 25, 2026), when the matter was called out for hearing, the Chief Justice, after a brief interaction with his Bench partners, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, asked the lawyer for Mr. Punia whether he was aware of the “misconduct” of his client’s father.

“How dare he do that? You think I will transfer the case because of this? I have dealt with such elements for the last 23 years,” a visibly annoyed Chief Justice Kant addressed the counsel.

The counsel said he was not aware of the turn of events. In response, the CJI told the lawyer that he (the lawyer) should ideally withdraw his legal representation in the case.

“Even if he is outside India, I know how to deal with such people,” Chief Justice Kant said.

The court listed the case for hearing in May. It directed the Haryana government to take instructions and submit a compliance report on the January 28 order.