Supreme Court Urges Jharkhand High Court to Sympathetically Consider Advocate’s Apology in Contempt Case
From the Editor's Desk
The Supreme Court Division Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on Friday asked the Jharkhand High Court to take a “sympathetic” view of the unconditional apology offered by a lawyer facing suo motu criminal contempt proceedings following a heated courtroom exchange with a judge.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by advocate Mahesh Tiwari, who has challenged the initiation of suo motu contempt action against him. The proceedings stem from a video clip that showed Tiwari in a sharp exchange with a single judge during a court hearing.
The contempt matter is being heard by a five-judge bench of the Jharkhand High Court, comprising Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad, Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay, Justice Ananda Sen and Justice Rajesh Shankar.
During the hearing, the CJI initially indicated he was not inclined to entertain the plea, remarking that it appeared to have been filed to undermine the High Court’s authority. He observed: “Even I have practised for several years….this man wants to go there and say - kya bigaad liya mera, Supreme Court se order le aya”
The CJI added that the advocate should either contest the proceedings if he believed he had done nothing wrong or apologise if he felt he was at fault. Justice Bagchi also commented on the broader dynamics at play in courtrooms, saying: “At every strata of the judicial hierarchy there are situations where creation of frictions become about professional pride.”
Senior advocate Sidharth Dave, appearing for Tiwari, urged the court to consider that the case could have serious consequences for his client’s career. Dave submitted that there was no intention to show disrespect and that the situation escalated after snippets of the exchange circulated widely online. He said: “The judges saw a video of the incident surfacing, these viral videos of the courtrooms have become a menace now.”
Dave also argued that while the single judge involved did not have an issue, a five-judge bench nevertheless took up the matter suo motu based on the viral clips. He added that the petitioner was willing to tender an unconditional apology.
Taking note of the submission, the Supreme Court recorded that counsel had stated: “While explaining that the petitioner didn't mean to cause disrespect the Hon'ble Judge or obstruct the judicial proceedings, the Sr Counsel submits that the petitioner is extremely repentant of the incident and is willing to tender unconditional apology”
Disposing of the petition, the bench granted liberty to Tiwari to file an affidavit of unconditional apology before the High Court and requested it to consider the apology sympathetically. The order states: “We deem it appropriate to dispose of the petition, with liberty to the petitioner to submit an affidavit of unconditional apology before the HC, we request the HC to consider the apology sympathetically and pass an order accordingly.”
Case title: Mahesh Tiwari v. The Registrar General of the High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi
