Congress blames digital team member for post on CJI, faces internal dissent

THE Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee has tied itself in knots over its response to a legal notice concerning a controversial post against Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.

On October 12, the @INCKerala handle posted a message targeting the CJI, prompting a legal notice from Supreme Court Bar Association joint secretary and advocate Meenesh Dubey.

In its response, the KPCC apologised for the post and singled out Vijay Thottathil, one of the people who managed the Congress’s official X handle in Kerala.

The incident has now created uncertainty among Congress cadres and volunteers, with several volunteers who manage the party’s social media handles reportedly submitting mass resignations.

The post, published on October 12, was in response to the CJI’s observations  regarding police restrictions against the protests in Delhi, wherein he said that law and order was not his domain.

Replying to this statement, the @inckerala handle tweeted that if law and order did not fall within the CJI’s domain, he should resign and that the party would find a replacement who could handle it.

The post, which was subsequently deleted, drew sharp criticism from the ruling front and a section of users of ‘X’.

On October 13, Supreme Court Bar Association joint secretary and advocate Meenesh Dubey sent a legal notice to KPCC president Sunny Joseph, seeking a written explanation and a public apology.

In his reply dated October 22, Sunny said the KPCC “unequivocally reaffirmed its respect for the Constitution, the independence of the judiciary and constitutional office of the Chief Justice of India”.

He maintained that the post did not represent the position of either the KPCC or the Indian National Congress.

“The impugned post was published by Shri Vijay Thottathil without the prior knowledge, approval or consultation of the KPCC leadership. Neither I nor the leadership had authorised to demand the resignation of the Honourable Chief Justice or to suggest that the organisation would find a replacement. The use of the official account for such an unauthorised communication does not establish that its contents were approved by the leadership,” the reply said.

The KPCC also added that Vijay had been removed from his position and had been asked to issue a public apology.

Sunny offered an unconditional apology on behalf of the KPCC, clarifying that it was independent of the public apology sought from Vijay. 

The KPCC said the clarification and apology would be communicated through the relevant official platform to ensure that it reached the audience that had seen the original statement. However, as of October 28, neither the @INCKerala handle nor Vijay had issued a public apology.

Rift in digital media cell

While the KPCC blamed Vijay for the controversial post, he denied being solely responsible for its publication, describing it as a “team effort”.

Responding to criticism on X, Vijay wrote that the KPCC had not named anyone when the controversy first emerged. He objected to being singled out in the reply to the legal notice and said the content published by the handle was the result of collective work.

“When this issue came up two weeks ago, KPCC didn’t mention any names. Now, in its statement responding to the legal notice, I see that my name has been mentioned. It has always been a team effort, never the work of one individual. That collective effort is what has helped make @INCKerala the No. 1 political handle in India when it comes to content,” he wrote.

The All India Congress Volunteers Committee (AICVC) expressed its displeasure over the KPCC's decision to hold Vijay responsible, signalling an internal rift within the party.

Condemning the move, the AICVC accused the KPCC leadership of scapegoating an individual to evade accountability, calling the move “disgraceful and indefensible”.

“We categorically reject this blatant attempt to absolve oneself of responsibility at Vijay’s expense. We stand resolutely with @vijaythottathil,” the committee said in a post on X on October 27. 

The AICVC Kerala in its statement said that publicly identifying Vijay Thottathil and removing him in connection with the controversy has exposed him to potential personal attacks and public vilification. 

Another organisation -India With Congress - issued a post on X, expressing solidarity with Vijay. In a public letter addressed to Vijay, it said that he helped reinvigorate INCKerala's social media presence, turning it into one of the most spirited and effective political voices online. 

According to sources in Congress, a section of leaders of All India Congress Committee are miffed over the reply, which singled out a member of the digital team.

They said that KPCC’s move was based on a flawed legal opinion, which, instead of issuing an apology, ended up throwing a member under the bus.

Many pro-Congress X users have opined on the platform that the legal reply should have been an apology and a censure of the team.  

Supreme Court advocate Balraj Malik wrote on X that the tweet was a blunt political response and that the judiciary should tolerate robust criticism.

“Deleting it, removing the employee, and issuing an unconditional apology was an unnecessary surrender. Filing a contempt petition over a deleted, disowned political statement risks turning free speech into a punishable offence. Judiciary must tolerate robust criticism,” he posted.