Two Law Students Arrested for Abusing Chief Justice, Disrupting Supreme Court Hearing
Two law students from Lucknow University have been arrested in connection with a disruption inside the Supreme Court on July 10, Delhi Police said on Tuesday. The accused, identified as Prabal Pratap Singh (24), a third-year law student, and Chander Bhan (23), a second-year law student, are alleged to have used abusive language against the Chief Justice of India (CJI), thrown papers inside the courtroom, and disrupted judicial proceedings during a hearing before a bench of Justices K V Viswanathan and Alok Aradhe.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered at Tilak Marg police station based on a complaint by Supreme Court security staff, Prabal Pratap, who was appearing as a petitioner-in-person, intentionally disrupted the court proceedings by using abusive and unparliamentary language, throwing papers, and creating disorder. When security staff attempted to restore order, he used force against a staff member, obstructing the discharge of official duties.
The incident unfolded during the hearing of Special Leave Petition (SLP) No. 31367/2026, titled 'Prabal Pratap & Another vs State of Uttar Pradesh through Commissioner'. Appearing alongside co-petitioner Chander Bhan, Pratap reportedly said, 'Mr Judicial Servant, I order you to order registration of FIR against ACP, Vikas Nagar, Lucknow.' Justice Viswanathan responded, 'You are ordering us?' Subsequently, Pratap waved a 185-page set of documents related to allegations against Duplex Technologies, threw the papers into the air, and allegedly used a cuss word directed at the CJI, prompting security personnel to escort him out.
Despite the incident amounting to alleged criminal contempt, the bench did not initiate contempt proceedings. Instead, it dismissed the special leave petition on merits, observing: 'As far as the merit of this case is concerned, we have perused the records, we find no good ground to interfere with the impugned judgement/order(s). The special leave petition is, accordingly, dismissed.'
The accused are now in police custody as investigations continue. The Supreme Court has not issued any additional statement on the matter.
