Chief Justice of India Surya Kant remarked on Thursday that he is not easily influenced by social media commentary surrounding court proceedings. Expressing concern over the rising trend of people publicly discussing pending matters and misreading the Court’s observations, the CJI said such behaviour often distorts judicial discourse.

He clarified that questions posed by the bench are meant only to examine the strength of submissions from both sides and should not be mistaken as an indication of the Court’s final stance. Despite this, he said, people frequently jump to conclusions and construct misleading stories based on stray queries raised during hearings.

“People have become overly sensitive—you ask one question and allegations of bias begin. I take these things very seriously. I am not fearful of such narratives… When the Court makes an observation, some immediately start blaming. We sometimes create unnecessarily hyper-analytical atmospheres in court. There is a misconception that someone can browbeat the Court. I will not allow that. I am a very tough person,” the CJI said.

His remarks came during the hearing of former MP Prajwal Revanna’s plea seeking transfer of the rape trials pending against him. Rejecting arguments that certain remarks by the trial judge indicated bias, the CJI reiterated that judicial comments cannot be treated as proof of a pre-decided opinion. The bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ultimately dismissed Revanna’s petition.

These observations appeared to indirectly address an open letter issued earlier by former judges, lawyers and activists criticizing comments made by the CJI during a Rohingya-related hearing. In that matter, the CJI had questioned the legal status of the Rohingya and whether India was expected to extend a “red carpet” to illegal migrants. The letter claimed the remarks conflicted with constitutional values. In response, 44 retired judges later released a statement defending the CJI and calling the open letter an “orchestrated attempt” to undermine the judiciary.

The CJI, however, made no direct reference to the Rohingya letter during the hearing.

Previously, Justice Surya Kant had also taken strong exception to a statement made by academics regarding the Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad case, noting, “We know how to deal with such people; they are within our jurisdiction.”