New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Friday, July 24, dismissed as “completely false” media reports claiming he had refused to list a petition challenging police action against student protesters, clarifying that no such petition had actually been filed before the Supreme Court.
Speaking in open court, the CJI said what had been placed before him was only a letter written by a lawyer to the Chief Justice, not a formal petition filed through the court’s registry. He said a mere letter could not be treated as a petition in the absence of any formal filing and expressed displeasure at how the episode had been reported, calling the coverage “irresponsible and reckless.”
Not a single page has been filed: CJI
“In the last two days, a completely false statement was made that a matter was filed, and the media is absolutely free from all responsibility, falsely reporting that the Chief Justice refused to list the matter. Till morning 10 am, not a single page has been filed. It was one representation… sent by that Mishra or someone. How can I treat the representation as a writ petition? And people start recklessly reporting this,” the CJI said.
The remarks came after senior advocate Shoeb Alam mentioned an unrelated matter for listing before the CJI’s bench, prompting the Chief Justice to address the controversy directly in court.
What happened on July 22
The episode traces back to July 22, when advocate Narendra Mishra had orally raised a letter he had addressed to the CJI over police action against student protesters.
The CJI had declined to entertain it at the time, telling Mishra, “Don’t waste our time, don’t waste your time.” When the lawyer said he had videos showing the police action, the CJI responded, “We are not interested in videos; we don’t have time to watch.”
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