Man who "dragged Gujarat High Court to toilet" ordered to do community service

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday ordered a man who had attended virtual court proceedings from a toilet seat to do community service, in addition to the ₹1 lakh fine imposed on him.

A Bench of Justices AS Supehia and RT Vachhani observed that the man had dragged the Court to the toilet, and obliterated its sanctity and majesty.

“By taking the instrument or going to a place like a toilet, the institution is dragged into that area, and that hurts. It’s very serious...He is participating in the process; he is dragging the High Court to the toilet."

However, given that the man tendered an unconditional apology for his actions, had deposited the fine and agreed to do community service, the Court closed the case.

While warning the contemnor not to repeat such feats in the future, the Court also had a message for lawyers:

"We also order the members of the Bar to tell their clients in advance to present themselves appropriately and display decent behaviour, and also represent themselves not from any public places but from their offices to uphold the dignity and majesty of the court as mentioned in the Gujarat High Court live-streaming rules."

The Court was hearing a suo motu contempt of court case against Shah.

In the previous hearing, the Court had ordered him to pay a fine of ₹1 lakh for his conduct.

Today, the Bench was informed that Shah has paid the fine. It then suggested that he does community service at an old age home. When his counsel said that he lives in Surat, far away from such homes, the Court directed,

"Okay. Do the community service for 15 days in this mansik swasthya kendra (mental health centre)."

It recorded in its order,

"He shall do the community service for at least 2 hours daily for 15 days. The superintendent of the concerned institution shall inform the District Legal Services Authority. Registry shall also send the present order to the DSLSA, Surat, to see that the contemnor complies with the directions of this Court."

Last month, a video showing a man attending Gujarat High Court virtual proceedings while seated on a toilet and relieving himself, had gone viral on social media.

The incident happened on June 20 before the Bench of Justice Nirzar S Desai.  

The video initially featured a closeup of the man logged in as 'Samad Battery', wearing a Bluetooth earphone around his neck.

He was subsequently seen keeping his phone at a distance, revealing that he was seated on a toilet. The video further showed him cleaning himself and then moving out of the washroom. He then went off-screen for some time before reappearing on video.

According to court records, the man was appearing as a respondent in a case seeking quashing of a first information report (FIR). He was the complainant in the criminal case.

Following an amicable resolution between the parties, the Court quashed the FIR.