New Delhi, March 25 Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Wednesday expressed his displeasure at the conduct of a litigant whose father made a phone call to the CJI's brother, objecting to a judicial order regarding minority reservation for a postgraduate course in medicine.
The case involves Nikhil Kumar Punia, born into the Jaat Puniya community in Haryana, seeking a minority reservation after converting to Buddhism at the Subharti Medical College in Uttar Pradesh.
On January 28, the Supreme Court, while observing that the plea was a "new type of fraud", had directed an inquiry into the petitioner's minority certificates.
On Wednesday, the CJI was furious, referring to the "shocking" incident and saying, "Nobody dares to do this. And you think I will transfer the case because of this? I have dealt with such elements for the last 23 years."
He went on to say, "Now tell us why we should not initiate criminal contempt proceedings against the father of your client. Should I disclose what he (the father) did in open court?
"He calls up my brother and asks him how the Chief Justice of India passed this order. Should he be dictating to me?"
Criticizing the conduct, he told the advocate, "You verify this (the conduct). As counsel, you should first consider withdrawing. This is sheer misconduct. Even if he is outside India, I know how to deal with such people."
The advocate apologized.
"I am very sorry, Sir, but I am not aware of all this," he said.
The court adjourned the matter to next week after noting that Haryana had not filed a compliance report regarding the guidelines for issuing minority certificates, including whether general category candidates could obtain a minority certificate after claiming to convert to Buddhism.