Case No. Crl A 847/2022
The Supreme Court on Monday in the case of PR Adikesavan vs Registrar General, Madras High Court & Anr dismissed a challenge to a High Court decision that found a lawyer in contempt of court.
The Bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and Bela M Trivedi heard the petition.
Now, it is becoming a new fashion to making allegations against judges. The stronger the judge, the worse the allegations. It is happening in Bombay, rampant in UP, Madras,”.
Stated the court
A challenge to a High Court decision fining a lawyer for contempt was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Monday.
In this case, Justice PT Asha issued a non-bailable warrant against a lawyer (PR Adikesavan) for failing to appear in court in an insolvency case filed under Section 13 of the Presidency Town Insolvency Act.
When the police attempted to execute the warrant in that case, Adikesavan and 50 other lawyers encircled him and blocked him from carrying out the High Court decision.
Adikesavan’s act was noted by the High Court, as was his other lawyers’ contemptuous behaviour.
The lawyer then filed two applications, one to question Justice Asha as a witness and the other to have Justice PN Prakash recused from the case. The lawyer was given time by the High Court, but because he did not appear in court, he was sentenced to two weeks of simple jail.
The lawyer will also be barred from practising before the High Court for a year, according to the High Court.
When the matter reached the Supreme Court, the petitioner’s lawyer stated that the petitioner had made an unconditional apology and sought that the sentence be suspended.
The Bench of Justice Chandrachud and Bela M Trivedi, on the other hand, was not impressed, and Justice Chandrachud stated that this lawyer belongs to a class of lawyers who are completely incorrigible and are a disgrace to the legal profession.
The court affirmed the two-week penalty as well as the practice ban, describing the punishment as “lenient.”
