E-Paper
Woman swears during virtual HC hearing, faces action for contempt
An Indian citizen living in Australia faces contempt proceedings after using abusive language during a video-conferencing hearing in the Delhi high court. She will have to travel to India and surrender her passport. Instances of inappropriate behavior during online court proceedings have become more common.
A woman, an Indian citizen living in Australia, who joined proceedings before the Delhi high court through video conferencing for one of her cases, has found herself in the dock for using abusive language while she was unmuted during the hearing on January 10.
Unaware of the fact that she had unmuted herself and could be heard in the open court, the woman hurled offensive remarks and said, “How could item 11 be taken before item 10. Ye s*** kya kar rahi hai (what is she doing)? What the f*** is going on in this court!”
The high court, shocked at her conduct, has initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against the woman, demanding her personal presence before it on April 16.
The incident occurred before a bench of justice Neena Bansal Krishna on January 10.
“Such derogatory remarks made by the plaintiff to denigrate the court are patently contemptuous and show the complete disregard to the dignity of the court, despite the fact that the counsel representing respective parties were present and had agreed to the date given i.e., 16.04.2024 for final arguments. Keeping in view such derogatory remarks lowering the dignity of the court, the suo motu contempt is taken,” justice Krishna said in the order.
Now, the woman will not only have to travel all the way from Sydney to India but will be able to leave the country only after the court’s directions in the light of its order directing FRRO, Delhi, to impound her passport upon arrival.
This is not the only incident wherein litigants and lawyers have faced a court’s ire for inappropriate online behaviour. In June 2021, a hearing of Juhi Chawla’s suit regarding the implementation of 5G was disrupted by unknown persons singing songs from the movies featuring the actor. The judge initiated contempt proceedings against unknown miscreants. In another proceeding, a Delhi high court judge imposed a ₹10,000 fine on a man who attended virtual hearing in his undershirt.
In 2021, the Madras high court initiated suo motu criminal contempt proceedings against a lawyer after he was seen getting intimate with a woman during a virtual hearing.
