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A petition has been filed before the Advocate General of Kerala seeking sanction to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against Congress Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan over remarks made about former Chief Justice A.J. Desai.
According to a Live Law report, the plea was filed by Ramees PK, an advocate practising in the Kerala High Court, with the assistance of advocate Arunkumar A. The petition contends that Satheesan’s statements during a press interaction on January 31, 2026, were “irresponsible, derogatory, and contemptuous in nature, directly scandalising and lowering the authority of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala.”
The petition refers to Satheesan’s response to a media question regarding an oral observation made by Chief Justice Desai in a public interest litigation filed by him. The former Chief Justice had asked whether the plea seeking a CBI probe into the Kerala Fibre Optic Network Project Ltd (K-FON) was a matter of public interest or merely for publicity. Satheesan reportedly said, “If it was for publicity, then there was no need for it to be accepted on file. Some Chief Justice had said something in open court.” The plea claims these remarks demeaned the judiciary.
The petitioner argues that the statements fall within the definition of criminal contempt under Section 2(c)(i) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. It states that the remarks directly demean the office of the Chief Justice, portray judicial functioning as arbitrary, and suggest that constitutional courts act without deliberation or responsibility.
The plea further alleges that the statements were made consciously and deliberately, with full awareness of their public reach and impact, thereby amplifying their effect on public perception of the judiciary.
The petitioner has collected video recordings of the press interaction and news reports reproducing the remarks to substantiate the case. The plea contends that the statements were not fair or bona fide criticism of judicial processes but were deliberately detrimental to the administration of justice and aimed at undermining public confidence in the justice system.