Trouble For CJP's Ratna Singh As Delhi Govt Consents To Criminal Contempt Proceedings Against Her Over Social Media Posts On Judge

New Delhi: The Delhi government has approved criminal contempt proceedings against CJP legal head Ratna Singh for her social media posts that questioned the conduct of a judicial officer. The matter pertains to Singh's X posts criticizing an order passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate Abhinav Pandey of the Saket courts in relation to her alleged detention by Delhi Police.

Singh's posts included remarks such as "Judge serving the master. Went for break/meeting 4 times during entire hearing. Order without any application of law. Welcome to new India, where Sarkar can put 30 police personnel confining you & then say we won coz armless people couldn’t come to the protest site. Irony is…" These posts allegedly questioned the independence and impartiality of the judicial process.

Delhi government's Additional Standing Counsel (Criminal) Amol Sinha granted consent to initiate proceedings after receiving a representation from advocate Kausik Chatterjee. Sinha said Singh's remarks appeared to suggest that the judicial officer was acting under instructions from an external authority rather than independently exercising judicial discretion. He noted that such allegations could potentially weaken public confidence in the administration of justice.

Sinha's consent was limited to the initial assessment of the allegations and did not constitute a final determination that Singh had committed criminal contempt. The Delhi High Court will independently examine the matter to determine whether Singh's posts constitute criminal contempt.