'Woman Can Write Like This…': SC Rebukes Female Lawyer Over Social Media Post Against Rape Survivor

Last Updated:February 11, 2026, 17:46 IST

Scrutinising the tone and content of the post, the Supreme Court issued a stinging reprimand to the woman lawyer and said her Facebook post was "most derogatory to a woman"

Expressing surprise that a woman can write such “derogatory" words about another woman, the Supreme Court on Wednesday rebuked a female advocate over her social media post against a complainant in a case of sexual assault against a Congress MLA from Kerala.

Issuing a stinging reprimand to the woman lawyer, the Supreme Court said her Facebook post was “most derogatory", especially as it was against a woman who was a complainant in a rape case against Congress MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said it is shocking that a member of the legal profession would use such offensive language against another woman.

“Are you expected to write this type of language? You are an advocate," CJI Surya Kant told the woman advocate, who was present during the court proceedings with her lawyer as per a report by Live Law.

The woman lawyer, however, said her post was based on information provided by the complainant’s husband. “The husband approached me, and he is the one who informed me, and I posted according to that," she was quoted, to which the CJI Kant replied: “Do we expect a practising woman advocate to write all these things?"

When she argued that the content of her post was not defamatory and did not disclose the complainant’s identity, Justice Joymalya Bagchi said it was “most derogatory of a woman" while the CJI Kant said he was surprised that a “woman can write like this against another woman".

“You have not spared a single word in your dictionary. And still you are not regretting! Should we read out in public what you have written?" he was quoted.

The woman advocate approached the SC seeking protection from arrest by the Kerala police, as she was apprehensive after she published the post. During the hearing, the bench scrutinised the tone and content of the post and remained unconvinced by her justification for writing the post.

Chief Justice Kant asked her if an advocate should put out confidential information in the public domain. “Did the husband engage you to write all this nonsense?" he was quoted.

Justice Bagchi, meanwhile, observed that she was using litigation to publicise a specific narrative that the court “deprecated". When she requested to be heard on the grounds of “being a lady", he said: “Being a lady, what sort of comments you have made about other women?"

The court’s disapproval was underscored by CJI Kant, who observed: “Had it been a man who had written all this nonsense, we would have got him arrested here itself."

The court refused to intervene or grant the petitioner’s request for virtual interrogation by the police, dismissing the petition while directing the advocate to seek relief from the high court instead.

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