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15-day community service for Gujarat man who attended court hearing from toilet
Since Samad Abdul Rehman Shah deposited the ₹1 lakh fine, expressed remorse, and agreed to perform community service, the bench closed the contempt proceedings
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Tuesday ordered a man who virtually attended court proceedings from a toilet to perform community service for 15 days, observing that he had “dragged the high court to the toilet” and “obliterated its sanctity and majesty”
The high court, which closed the contempt proceedings against Samad Abdul Rehman Shah for joining a June 20 hearing to quash a first information report (FIR) from the toilet, had earlier imposed a ₹1 lakh fine on him.
Shah, the complainant in the case, logged in under the screen name ‘Samad Battery’ before justice Nirzar S Desai. During the hearing, his phone camera showed him on the toilet seat, cleaning himself, and later exiting the washroom before briefly going off-screen and reappearing.
A division bench of justices A.S. Supehia and R.T. Vachhani took up the contempt matter and observed that, although Shah’s conduct may not have been intentional, it had “obliterated its sanctity and majesty.”
“By taking the instrument and going to such a place like a toilet, which he has done, the institution is dragged into that area. That hurts. It is very very serious… He is participating in a proceeding before the high court and dragging the high court proceedings to toilet,” said justice Supehia.
In his unconditional apology submitted before the court, Shah stated he was ashamed of his conduct and held the highest respect for the authority of the court, requesting a sympathetic view.
Justice Supehia, reading from the order, said the act, though claimed to be inadvertent, was of such seriousness that it could not be ignored. “Proof of mens rea is excluded by such conduct,” the court held.
“No defence is available to the contemnor to plead that the act can be ignored due to lack of intention. It has tendency to interfere with the administration of justice and lowers the authority of the court.”
While accepting Shah’s apology, the court directed him to perform two hours of community service daily for 15 days at Mamta Mansik Swasthya Kendra, a mental health facility in Surat, instead of an old-age home due to logistical issues.
Since Shah deposited the fine, expressed remorse, and agreed to perform the service, the bench closed the contempt proceedings.
The court also cautioned members of the Bar to ensure that clients attend virtual hearings with appropriate decorum as mentioned in the Gujarat High Court live-streaming rules.
“We order the members of the Bar to tell their clients in advance to present themselves appropriately and display decent behaviour. They must represent themselves not from any public places but from their offices or a decent/suitable place which does not in any manner impugn the decorum of the court proceedings.”
Earlier in March this year, the Gujarat high court imposed costs of ₹2 lakh on a man who joined a virtual court hearing from a lavatory. The incident, which took place on February 17, involved Dhaval Patel, a 42-year-old professional, who joined the hearing on behalf of his father. The hearing was related to a matter involving the Gujarat State Cooperative Marketing Federation Limited.
