Gujarat High Court Virtual Proceeding Video: The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday ordered a man to perform 15 days of community service at a government mental health centre after he attended a virtual court hearing while sitting on a toilet seat. The man, identified as Samad Abdul Rehman Shah, had appeared via video conferencing in a case seeking to quash a first information report. The incident took place on June 20 before Justice Nirzar S. Desai. A video of the hearing later went viral, showing Shah, logged in as “Samad Battery,” seated in a bathroom with earphones around his neck. He was seen cleaning himself, briefly leaving the frame, and returning from a different room.
A Bench of Justices AS Supehia and RT Vachhani observed that the man had dragged the dignity of the Court into a toilet and had hurt the institution’s sanctity. “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,” the Bench said during the hearing as quoted by Bar and Bench.
The court was hearing a contempt case against a man named Shah. On Tuesday, the bench was told that Shah had paid the fine of Rs 1 lakh. He had also given an unconditional apology. The court then decided to close the case.
According to the reports, the Bench directed Shah to serve for 15 days at a mental health centre. He will have to work for at least two hours daily.
The court also instructed all advocates to guide their clients to behave appropriately during virtual hearings. It said litigants should join court proceedings only from private and suitable spaces like a home office or a quiet room and not from public or improper places.