The Bombay High Court recently took suo motu cognizance of an “unfortunate incident” that took place on the court premises, in which a lawyer and an official of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) insulted a member of the court in an foul language after being asked to remain silent.

A division bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Kamal Khata was disturbed to take note of the incident and hence asked his peon Atul Tayade to lodge a criminal complaint against lawyer Dinesh Kadam and NMC deputy municipal commissioner Mayur Patil for ill-treating him and threatening to do so remove from office.

The judges, in their order dated November 14, said that due to the current mission (cases related to municipalities, etc.), many litigants appear in their courtroom and, therefore, the bench ordered to his peons as well as to the police officers on duty to direct the litigants. to maintain silence and peace not only inside the courtroom but also outside the court, that is, in the corridors of the court. On November 14, between 1:30 p.m. and 1:40 p.m., the peon Tayade informed the judges in their chambers and recounted the incident that occurred in the corridors.

“He informed us that while he was trying to maintain peace in the corridors of the court under our instructions, a person named Mayur Patil, accompanied by advocate Dinesh Kadam, insulted him in foul language and had tried to physically attack and manhandle him. the bench recorded its order.

The judges further noted that Patil had shown Tayade his identity card as deputy commissioner of Nashik municipality.

“Advocate Kadam, accompanied by Patil, threatened our peon saying that he would file a complaint against him with the appointing authority and that his services would end in the evening. We consciously avoid reproducing the dirty and unparliamentary language used by lawyer Kadam accompanied by Patil to maintain decency and dignity”, » noted the bench.

He, therefore, suggested Tayade to file a case against the duo under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against Patil and defend Kadam for the act they committed within the precincts of the court.“At this stage, senior advocate Ram Apte and advocate Subhash Jha intervened and requested the Court not to take strict action or further rush the matter as it may ruin the professional career of the lawyer Kadam”, noted the judges.

Subsequently, Kadam and Patil provided their respective personal affidavits and tendered an “unconditional apology”, not only to the Court but also to Tayade. The judges therefore accepted the said apology.

“However, we caution Kadam and Patil to be careful in future and not indulge in such acts and/or activities within the confines of any court in the State of Maharashtra,” » declared the judges as they closed the case.

Click here to read/download the order