Supreme Court Directs Nikhil Wagle To Appear Virtually, Sanjay Raut Physically In CJI Surya Kant Contempt Case

The Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M. Pancholi was hearing the contempt proceedings against Wagle and Raut, for which contempt notices had been issued on October 16.

Senior Advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for Wagle, informed the Court that he had tendered an unconditional apology and deleted the post in question.

Reading from the apology, Jaising submitted: “I tender my sincere, unconditional and unqualified apology to this Hon’ble Court and to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India for the post made by me on November 11 on my X handle.”

Jaising told the Bench that Wagle deeply regretted the post and did not seek to justify it in any manner. She also highlighted his nearly five-decade career as a journalist, submitting that he had maintained a record of integrity and had never favoured any political party.

Offering to have Wagle join the proceedings virtually, Jaising said he had been willing to remain present but had stayed away on her legal advice after the Court exempted him from personal appearance. “If Your Lordship so pleases, he can appear online anytime,” she submitted.

The Bench subsequently directed Wagle to appear virtually at the next hearing, clarifying that his physical presence could be required if necessary. “For the next hearing, he should appear virtually. If required, we will ask him to be physically present here. Otherwise, on any date fixed by My Lord, he will appear virtually,” Justice Kumar said.

During the hearing, the Bench also discussed concerns over alleged misinformation targeting the judiciary and stressed the importance of assistance from the Bar in addressing issues concerning the institution.

Senior Advocate Rahul Kaushik, appearing for the SCBA, referred to a Delhi High Court order dated June 19, 2026, concerning alleged false claims that judges and political leaders had participated in a badminton event in London.

Kaushik submitted that the High Court had observed that material on record indicated a systematic misinformation campaign intended to malign the reputation of the CJI and other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts. He said photographs from a badminton tournament held at Delhi’s Thyagraj Stadium in November 2025 had allegedly been misused to create a false narrative that judges and political leaders had played badminton together in London.

He also referred to the High Court’s directions restraining the uploading, publication, circulation or sharing of the impugned content across social media, search engines, web-hosting platforms and other online platforms. Kaushik pointed out that Wagle’s post in question had been published on October 11, after the June 2026 order.

Kaushik further referred to another post attributed to Wagle concerning the burning of Albania’s Supreme Court, submitting that it suggested a similar situation could occur in India.

Justice Kumar asked counsel to address Wagle’s case separately before moving to the proceedings concerning Raut.

On Raut’s behalf, the petitioners’ counsel informed the Court that a reply affidavit had been filed and drew attention to various social media posts attributed to him. The Court, however, noted that the affidavit was not available on record and directed the Registry to verify the filing.

The Bench also noted that, although Advocate Vishnu Sharma was reported to have filed a vakalatnama for Raut, the Registry’s report dated October 27, 2026, showed that no appearance had been entered on his behalf.

Accordingly, the Court directed Raut to remain physically present at the next hearing on November 17. The matter will now be taken up after the Diwali vacation.

On October 16, the Court had issued notice in the Criminal Contempt Petition filed by Supreme Court Bar Association against Journalist Nikhil Wagle and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut over their comments against the Chief Justice of India and for committing gross criminal contempt of the Supreme Court.

While issuing notice CJI Surya Kant had observed, "People don't understand that they are being trapped". In response, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had submitted, "I support SCBA, many of them understand. Attempt is there, but many of them don't succeed." "Each one of them have come to court seeking rescue and if you still keep on condemning criticizing taking left and right, then let us see. Hope better sense will prevail. We have issued notice now," the CJI went on to observe.

Attorney General R Venkataramani had recently granted consent to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against the two under the Contempt of Courts Act.

The plea arises from a recent post made by Wagle on his X account @waglenikhil stating: “**** you CJI!”, in the context of a report concerning the Chief Justice of India declining a request to meet delegation of political parties led by Rahul Gandhi.

SCBA has further alleged that upon the Chief Justice of India denying to meet the delegation of the political parties, Raut deliberately and intentionally made scandalous statements and made false scandalous allegations against the CJI, which were carried by IANS on the platform “X” with an accompanying video, wherein Raut alleged that Judges attend political programmes of the ruling party and accept dinners hosted by Chief Ministers.

Raut is also stated to have referred to the photographs of Judges playing Badminton with political figures in London and imputed allegations against the CJI and other Judges.

Court has been told the statements are deliberate and intentional which are in fact false and contrary to records and were knowingly made to scandalise and diminish the authority of the Supreme Court.

Accordingly, a Criminal Contempt Petition has been instituted under Article 129 of the Constitution of India, read with Sections 2(c)(i), and 15(1)(b) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and Rule 3(c) of the Rules to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of the Supreme Court, 1975, after the requisite written consent of the Learned Attorney General for India.

Notably, Chief Justice of India refused to meet with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other Opposition leaders and discuss their allegations concerning electoral irregularities.

In a letter, the CJI had said, "At the very outset, it may be noted that the issues referred to hereinabove are already sub judice before the Supreme Court of India. Therefore, convening a meeting to discuss pending cases would wholly contravene the principle of Separation of Powers, an intrinsic facet of the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution of India, and would be incompatible with the established ethics and judicial propriety."

CJI Kant had also reminded Gandhi and other that within our constitutional framework, the Supreme Court of India is not endowed with any administrative powers to deal with the issues highlighted by them.

What is the Badminton Game Controversy?

The All India Judges Badminton Championship was held at last year Thyagaraj Stadium, New Delhi. A token inaugural match was played by Justice Vikram Nath and two Union Ministers. In June 2026, the 2nd International Bar & Bench Badminton Championship, a private event, was held in London after which content was circulated on social media falsely claiming that the CJI, 60-70 Judges and Union Ministers played in it, using the photographs of 2025 event as proof.

Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check Unit had later clarifiedthat the viral photographs are from the November 2025 event in New Delhi and not from London. The Ministry of Law & Justice had also issued an official statement to the same effect.

Case Title: Supreme Court Bar Association v. Nikhil Wagle

Bench: Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M. Pancholi

Hearing Date: October 28, 2026