A letter seeking contempt of court action against Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) over a social media post against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant has been registered as a writ petition by the Supreme Court.

The letter, written to the CJI by advocate Vineet Jindal on October 13, was registered as a civil writ petition on October 30. It is yet to be listed for hearing before a Bench.

The controversial post against the CJI appeared on the official X handle of Congress Kerala on October 12. It read,

"Dear Surya Kant, If law and order is not your domain, resign now. We will find your replacement who can handle it."

The post was deleted soon after.

In his letter, Jindal said the office of the CJI "cannot be treated as one whose continuance is subject to the approval or displeasure of any political organisation."

The post, he said, raised questions as to whether it remains within the bounds of permissible political criticism or warrants consideration under the law relating to criminal contempt of court.

The letter also flagged the political demonstration connected with the Supreme Court premises on October 12, reportedly involving Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders. It sought an examination of whether any restricted area was entered without authorisation or any security protocol was breached.

However, Jindal added a caveat.

"The mere holding of a peaceful demonstration, the raising of political slogans at a lawful location or the presence of political leaders in the vicinity of the Supreme Court does not, by itself, establish contempt of court or any other offence," the letter said.

He sought preservation of CCTV footage, access-control logs and security deployment records so that any inquiry rests on reliable evidence rather than unverified reports, incomplete recordings or partisan accounts of the incident.

The development comes days after the KPCC tendered an unconditional apology to the CJI. In a reply dated October 22 to a legal notice sent by Supreme Court Bar Association Joint Secretary Meenesh Dubey, KPCC President Sunny Joseph said the post was published by party worker Vijay Thottathil without the leadership's knowledge, consent or consultation. Thottathil has since been removed from his position, it was stated.

Separately, on October 15, a Bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi had issued notice to the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders on a petition by four lawyers concerning the October 12 march. That plea also sought contempt action over the Kerala Congress post, but the Bench declined to issue notice on that prayer.

"No contempt today. We are only issuing notice. Let us see what the response is, and then we will take it forward," the CJI had said.