New Delhi, Oct 2026 : Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Tuesday reprimanded a lawyer seeking an urgent hearing in a disproportionate assets case involving Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, questioning whether the request was intended to attract media attention.
“There is no head, no tail to this mentioning,” the CJI remarked, expressing reservations about the grounds cited by the lawyer for seeking an early listing of the matter before the Supreme Court.
The lawyer sought an urgent hearing, referring to a recent statement by Rahul Gandhi at an event in which the Congress leader reportedly claimed that he was in touch with 200 officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Reacting to the submission, CJI Kant asked the lawyer, “Have you spoken to any news channel for this?”
Following the exchange, the CJI orally directed the court staff to discontinue the live streaming of mentioning proceedings henceforth.
The development comes against the backdrop of an earlier Supreme Court order staying proceedings before the Allahabad High Court in the disproportionate assets case. The apex court had also restrained the CBI and the ED from submitting any report before the High Court in connection with the matter.
The case originated from a complaint filed by S. Vignesh Shishir, a BJP worker from Karnataka, who alleged that Rahul Gandhi possessed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
In August, the Supreme Court had asked the Allahabad High Court to defer proceedings and directed the central investigative agencies not to submit any report to the High Court.
However, the Supreme Court clarified that if any investigative agency possesses information about disproportionate assets belonging to an individual, it can initiate action independently, without requiring directions from a court.
Rahul Gandhi had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court's directions to the CBI and the ED to verify the allegations made against him. He also filed a separate transfer petition seeking to move the proceedings from the Allahabad High Court to the Delhi High Court.
The latest exchange took place during the lawyer's attempt to secure an early hearing, while the proceedings remain subject to the Supreme Court's earlier directions.
