Gujarat High Court: In a suo motu contempt case, the Division Bench of AS Supehia* and RT Vachhani, JJ, slapped a fine of Rs. 1 lakh on a man who was caught relieving himself during virtual court proceedings,
By order dated 30-6-2025, the Court had initiated suo motu contempt proceedings, based on a news article published in Ahmedabad Mirror, highlighting the conduct of Mr Abdul Samad, who had joined virtual court proceedings of Justice Nirzar Desai while relieving himself on the toilet. The Court had ordered an immediate ban and deletion of the video and had directed the Registry to furnish a report before the next hearing date.
Pursuant to the order dated 30-6-2025, the Registry had submitted a report that revealed that the contemnor had joined the live streaming by the name of ‘Samad Battery’ for a total of 74 minutes during which he was seen sitting on the toilet relieving himself for a short while.
The advocate representing the contemnor in the original proceedings in the court of Justice Nirzar S. Desai was questioned by the court as to whether the contemnor had been given instructions regarding appropriate behaviour during virtual proceedings. It was submitted that such instructions had indeed been given.
The contemnor admitted to his misconduct during the live streaming of proceedings and will be tendering an unconditional apology.
Accordingly, the Court directed the contemnor to deposit Rs. 1 lakh as fine with the Registry of the Court before the next date of hearing.
The matter was listed for further hearing on 22-7-2025
[Suo Motu v. Samad Abdul Rehman Shah, 2025 SCC OnLine Guj 2743, decided on 14-7-2025]
*Order by: Justice AS Supehia