Chandigarh: Lawyer courts trouble by ‘recording proceedings’

A court of judicial magistrate, Chandigarh, on Friday issued a show-cause notice to a lawyer after he was reportedly caught recording the court proceedings in his mobile phone

A court of judicial magistrate, Chandigarh, on Friday issued a show-cause notice to a lawyer, Charanjit Singh Bakshi, after he was reportedly caught recording the court proceedings in his mobile phone.

As per the complaint filed by counsel Pardeep Virk, Bakshi started recording the court proceedings in a case where he too was representing the opposite party in a divorce case. However, he was sitting in court as he had to appear in some other case. When the counsel raised the alarm, Bakshi handed over his mobile phone to the naib court.

The naib court noticed that a video conference was running on Bakshi’s mobile phone, besides the recordings of the ongoing case. Some other recordings were also found. The advocate had made recordings of the court proceedings without the court’s permission, which amounts to interference in the working of court and can lead to contempt proceedings, court order says. Later, when questioned by court, the lawyer had denied that he had recorded proceedings of the court.

In the show-cause notice, the court asked Bakshi as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him. The case has been referred to the high court. He has also been asked as to why legal action under Section 228 of the Indian Penal Code (causing interruption to public servant) should not be taken against him.

Even though the mobile phone was returned to Bakshi, the court directed him not to dispose of his mobile or to make any alteration or deletion of data and other items from the phone till the proceedings are concluded.