contempt of court insult of a lawyer

[K Sagar]

sir,
on hearing of arguments in the case of 125 cr.p.c my my Advocate
started his arguments saying that your honour at present is not a district judge
but JMFC POWERS…..Suddenly the family court judge burst out in anger
and told my advocate stopping him to speak that you are calling me JMFC. I AM PUTTING YOU BEHIND BAR. And then immediately called police and ordered the police to arrest my advocate. I have seen that and heard that he has not uttered a word by which the judge
can go for such a Savage way and insulting him in the open court. During other advocates took the matter in order to cool the judge and requested my advocate to apologize. My advocate is very senior and sober so he apologized as per the dictation given by the judge himself. After the recess it was decided among the advocates that my advocate was not at fault at all, therefore, it was decided to give a PURSIS clarifying the fact. Then my advocate went with me to submit the PURSIS the Judge again burst out in anger and told my advocate to put behind the bar. My advocate being very sober by nature requested the judge that if the pursis hurts you he will withdraw it. The judge told him that he will return the pursis and also will not keep it with the case papers.
In the above circumstances what action can be called for.pl. guide me as i am much disturbed due to insult of my advocate in the open court.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

Firstly, please understand that the power to punish for contempt of court lies only with the Supreme Court and high courts. A magistrate cannot punish for contempt of court. If a contempt of court is committed, the Magistrate can make a reference to the high court, which can then conduct contempt proceedings and punish the person who committed contempt. Therefore, the Magistrate putting the advocate behind bars or ordering his arrest for contempt of court, if it has really happened, may not be legally correct, unless there was some other offence along with contempt issue.

Secondly, advocate is an officer of the court and insulting the advocate inside court without any justifiable reasons can lead to contempt charge against the judge also. A judge or Magistrate can also be liable for contempt of his own court or of another court. This is quite clear from Section 16 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, which is reproduced below:

“16. Contempt by judge, magistrate or other person acting judicially.—(1) Subject to the provisions of any law for the time being in force, a judge, magistrate or other person acting judicially shall also be liable for contempt of his own court or of any other court in the same manner as any other individual is liable and the provisions of this Act shall, so far as may be, apply accordingly.

(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to any observations or remarks made by a judge, magistrate or other person acting judicially, regarding a subordinate court in an appeal or revision pending before such judge, magistrate or other person against the order or judgment of the subordinate court.”

However, it would be very difficult (near to impossible) to prove such a case against the judge. You’ll need very strong evidence and there being no fault on the part of your advocate. If you want to proceed with such matter, and are confident that there is sufficient evidence against the Magistrate for contempt, then you may have to approach the high court with a contempt petition in accordance with provisions of the Contempt of Court Act.     

---

Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Author]

Posts