Lawyer appears in Delhi high court with taped mouth, bench calls protest in ‘poor taste’

Justices Nitin Sambre and Anish Dayal initially assumed the lawyer might have suffered an injury. When questioned, Saini said he was staging a “symbolic protest”, claiming he had been repeatedly interrupted during the previous two hearings and felt unable to fully present his arguments.

The Delhi High Court has expressed strong displeasure over the conduct of a lawyer who appeared before a bench with red stick-fast tape over his mouth, alleging that he had been “silenced” during earlier hearings. While the court termed the behaviour “unacceptable”, it stopped short of taking formal action against him.

The incident unfolded on December 1 when advocate RK Saini, counsel for the petitioner, entered the courtroom with red tape stuck across his mouth.

The incident unfolded on December 1 during the hearing of a contempt case and a connected writ petition filed by Nand Kishore, when advocate RK Saini, counsel for the petitioner, entered the courtroom with red tape stuck across his mouth.

Justices Nitin Sambre and Anish Dayal initially assumed the lawyer might have suffered an injury. When questioned, Saini said he was staging a “symbolic protest”, claiming he had been repeatedly interrupted during the previous two hearings and felt unable to fully present his arguments.

In its December 1 order, the bench described the act as “completely in poor taste” and “unbecoming of a lawyer” of Saini’s standing.

According to the court, it had only asked Saini to conclude his submissions because they had become “too lengthy and repetitive,” and it needed to hear the response from the opposing side. “In this context, the conduct of Mr Saini, as demonstrated today in the court, is completely in poor taste and unexpected of a lawyer of the stature of Mr Saini, who, in our understanding, has standing of more than 25 years,” the order said.

The judges noted that such conduct could have warranted action but decided against it out of respect for Saini’s long career. “Considering his standing, we have refrained from passing such an order. However, we place on record our strong displeasure with the unbecoming and unbefitting conduct of advocate Mr RK Saini,” the bench said.

Saini, who has practised for more than 42 years, is widely credited with introducing the concept of public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court, including a landmark petition urging the MCD to demolish unauthorised construction and a PIL challenging the CBSE’s introduction of multiple-set question papers.

Speaking to HT, Saini said he chose to appear with red tape because, during the last hearing, “I had been virtually removed from the proceedings.” He contested the court’s observation that he was making repetitive arguments, saying he had only requested that the matter be listed in the first week of December. “The removal amounted to barring a person from participating in the proceedings, without any warning or notice,” he said.