'Can't play Jesus but'; Lawyer sent to jail for making out during online hearing: Report

The Madras high court has sentenced lawyer Santhana Krishnan to imprisonment of two weeks and a fine of ₹6,000 for making out during an online hearing. He has also been asked to pay ₹4 lakh to the woman in the viral video.

Lawyer Santhana Krishnan whose video of making out during an online hearing went viral last December has been sentenced to imprisonment for two weeks apart from a penalty of ₹600. The Madras high court bench of Justice PN Prakash and Justice AA Nakkiran recently gave the verdict and said the court can not engage in moral policing. "Though we are too small to play Jesus, one cannot be oblivious of the fact that there could be many a Santhana Krishnan in various walks of life who are lucky enough in not getting captured in a camera or clever enough to get away by hook or crook," the court observed, as reported by LiveLaw.

Court said there would not have been any grievance had he engaged in the act after logging out of the virtual platform.

The incident took place on December 20, 2021, and the video of Santhana Krishnan getting intimate with a woman while a live hearing was on went viral. The court had taken a suo moto cognizance of the issue. The bench ordered the Registry to take steps to remove the video from the internet. Samantha Krishnan's licence was suspended.

The woman in the video claimed because of the economic situation of her family she was being exploited by the lawyer. Santhana Krishnan claimed he was not aware that the video was on at that time.

The court said as a lawyer, Santhana Krishnan was expected to maintain decorum while attending the court. There would not have been any grievance had he engaged in the act after logging out of the virtual platform, the court noted.

"The whole problem for him was he wanted to have the best of the worlds at the same time, viz., to be in virtual hearing platform with his professional work and simultaneously, to canoodle with "X". One cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hound. Therefore, we find that his explanation is not satisfactory," the court said.

The court observed that the woman was an accomplice in the video but the court has considered her plight and the shame and trauma after the video went viral. Apart from a penalty of ₹6,000, the lawyer has been asked to compensate the woman by paying a sum of ₹4 lakh.