The Office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on 10 May strongly condemned the circulation of fabricated social media posts falsely attributing inflammatory remarks to Chief Justice Surya Kant, calling the act "malicious", "mischievous", and a direct attack on public trust in the judiciary. The condemnation came through an official press statement issued from the Supreme Court of India in New Delhi.

The Fabricated Post

The CJI's office specifically named the account @UnreservedMERIT on X (formerly Twitter) as having circulated a fabricated graphic falsely attributing a statement to Chief Justice Surya Kant. The fake quote, written in Hindi, read: "Agar ek samaj khud ko IAS, IPS, CJI, President, PM bankar bhi khud ko shoshit hi rakhna chata hai, to isme ghalti Brahmino ki nahi balki uski apni mansikta ki hai" — loosely translated as suggesting that if a society, even after producing senior officials and constitutional office-holders from its ranks, still chooses to remain exploited, the fault lies not with Brahmins but with its own mentality. The Office of the CJI clarified that these attributed remarks were "wholly baseless, malicious, and demonstrably false".

What the Supreme Court Said

The official press release from the CJI's office did not mince words. "The Office of Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India condemns in the strongest possible terms this vile, brazen, and mischievous concoction," it stated. It further described the act of manufacturing a fictitious quote and attributing it to the highest judicial office in the country as "an act of rank dishonesty, deliberate social incitement, and contempt for constitutional values." The statement warned that such conduct "strikes at the very foundation of public trust in the judiciary and the rule of law."

Call for Restraint

The CJI's office urged citizens, media organisations, and social media platforms to refrain from amplifying unverified and misleading content. The statement called upon all responsible parties to avoid sharing "false and contrived content" that could inflame social tensions and erode institutional credibility. The appeal is notable given the caste-sensitive nature of the fabricated quote, which was clearly designed to provoke communal discord.

Why This Matters

This is not an isolated incident — fake quotes attributed to senior constitutional figures have increasingly been used as tools of disinformation in India's polarised social media landscape. The fact that the Supreme Court felt compelled to issue a formal press condemnation underscores the severity with which the judiciary views such attempts at reputational sabotage. Notably, the fabricated quote was crafted to appear as though the CJI — the head of India's independent judiciary — was making a divisive caste-based remark, a framing that could seriously damage public confidence in the institution's impartiality. The explicit naming of the offending account signals that legal action cannot be ruled out.