A video of Supreme Court hearing is doing the rounds on social media a showing a petitioner abusing CJI, throwing papers and misbehaving in the courtroom. Let’s find out how the apex bench reacted to this episode.
High octane drama unfolded recently in Supreme Court when a petitioner, appearing in person not only misbehaved, but also threw papers and hurled abuses at Chief Justice of India. The incident happened when the petitioner, identified as Prabal Pratap, appeared before the dual judge bench of justice KV Vishwanath and justice Alok Aradhe on Friday.
Addressing the bench as “judicial servant”, he claimed that he was “sovereign” as he argued a petition challenging an Allahabad high court order. The litigant said, “Mister judicial servant, I order you to order the registration of FIR against ACP Vikas Nagar Lucknow.” to which Justice KV Vishwanath replied, “You are ordering us?” Moments later, the petitioner can be seen saying “I’m the sovereign” and throwing papers in the air as he used abusive language for the Chief Justice of India.
The situation became even more tense inside the courtroom when the petitioner said, “Ye de dena CJI ko (give this to the CJI),” as the court officers acted swiftly to catch hold of him and move him out for his misbehaviour.
Watch viral video here
Notably, Prabal Pratap, the litigant, had moved court against the dismissal of his Writ Petition by the Allahabad High Court. He sought action against the conversion of his application under Section 173(4) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) into a private complaint case, Live Law reported.
How did the bench react?
After this high drama scenes, the Supreme Court bench took the case on its merits and passed an order, taking a lenient approach despite the breach of protocol. During the entire episode, the bench remained calm and restrained itself from taking any action against the petitioner for his unruly behavior “considering the condition of the petitioner above-named, and does not propose to take any action against him.”
With regard to the case, the bench dismissed the appeal and said, “As far as the merit of this case is concerned, we have perused the records, we find no good ground to interfere with the impugned judgment/order(s).” The order further stated, “The special leave petition is accordingly dismissed. All pending applications for permission to appear and argue in person and permission to file petition(s) shall also stand disposed of.”
This shocking incident comes months after an advocate tried to hurl a shoe at the chief justice of India, BR Gavai, during court proceedings in October last year. Even during this episode security personnel intervened and escorted the miscreant out of the courtroom to prevent any further chaos. The accused lawyer was penalised for his misconduct as the Bar Council of India suspended his license, and the Supreme Court Bar Association terminated his membership. Later, CJI Gavai insisted that no action be taken against the advocate.
