AAP's Bharadwaj urges CJI to act against CM for 'set' judge remark

AAP's Delhi President Saurabh Bharadwaj has urged CJI Suryakant to initiate suo motu contempt proceedings against CM Rekha Gupta for her remark about a judge being "set," calling it a conspiracy to defame the judiciary.

Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj on Saturday urged the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Suryakant to take suo motu cognisance and initiate contempt proceedings against Chief Minister Rekha Gupta for referring to a judge as "set."

According to the Aam Aadmi Party, Saurabh Bharadwaj stated that the CM's remarks were part of a deliberate conspiracy to portray the judiciary as corrupt and normalise such claims. Citing the Supreme Court's earlier intervention in the NCERT "Corruption and Judiciary" chapter for Class 8, the AAP Delhi Unit Chief said the present case similarly warranted judicial action, and called on the Court to set a precedent to deter constitutional authorities from making such remarks against judges.

Bharadwaj Cites Supreme Court's NCERT Ruling

On Saturday, sharing a video on X, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj said, "Just two days ago, on a media platform, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta made an extremely objectionable remark about a lower court judge, saying that judgments are delivered through 'setting.' Just a month ago, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Suryakant had, in a similar matter, taken suo motu cognisance and strongly reprimanded NCERT and the central government."

Saurabh Bharadwaj continued, "The issue was that in the Class 8 NCERT book, a chapter titled 'Role of Judiciary' had been included, within which a section called 'Corruption and Judiciary' had been added, which drew strong displeasure from the Supreme Court."

Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the Supreme Court had itself taken cognisance, summoned the NCERT Director and the Secretary of the central government, and issued notices to them, and he further said, "The Court had observed that this was a deep, well-planned conspiracy against the judiciary, intended to defame it. The Court had said that it was akin to firing a gun at the judiciary and leaving it bloodied."

"It had treated the matter as one amounting to defaming the court. The Court had termed it a careless, irresponsible, and motivated act, for which criminal contempt proceedings were certainly warranted. The Court had even said that it would not accept an apology and would impose punishment. Ultimately, the Court also stated that those who had written this section would never again be assigned work by governments in the future," he added.

Humble appeal to CJI Hon’ble Justice Suryakant to initiate criminal Contempt proceedings against CM Rekha Gupta & Navika Kumar just like last month’s suo-moto contempt against NCERT. pic.twitter.com/DZdFzYCNMZ — Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) March 28, 2026

'Conspiracy to Portray Judiciary as Corrupt'

Saurabh Bharadwaj said that Delhi's elected Chief Minister holds a constitutional office and made these remarks openly on a media platform.

"Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has engaged in a deliberate conspiracy to portray the judiciary, particularly the lower courts, as corrupt and to normalise such claims," he asserted.

Since the matter involves the Chief Minister of Delhi, whose party is also in power at the Centre, he said, an ordinary citizen would not be able to approach the court.

"Therefore, the Chief Justice of India, Justice Suryakant, should take suo motu cognisance and initiate criminal contempt proceedings in this matter. The Court should set a precedent so that no Chief Minister dares to openly call a judge of a CBI special court corrupt in this manner," he concluded. (ANI)

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