₹1 lakh fine, 15 days of community service for man attending Gujarat HC online hearing from toilet

Gujarat High Court has ordered 15 days of community service for the man who attended a virtual court hearing perched on a toilet seat during court proceedings.

On July 14, a division bench of Justice A S Supehia and Justice R T Vacchani imposed ₹1 lakh fine on Abdul Samad and directed him to deposit the amount by July 22.

The court registry had submitted a report stating that on June 20, during a virtual hearing before Justice Nirzar Desai, Samad was seen attending the proceedings for 74 minutes seated in the washroom.

During the virtual hearing of a quashing petition in the court, the complainant, Abdul Samad, was seen attending the case from the toilet while wearing a wireless Bluetooth headset. 

The hearing, live-streamed on the court’s official platform, showed Samad in a close-up shot, visibly sitting in the lavatory during the proceedings related to a complaint he had filed. 

The video quickly went viral on social media, sparking outrage and prompting the court to take action against Samad for contempt of court.

Samad’s lawyer later requested the court for forgiveness, assuring that such a mistake would not be repeated. However, the high court decided to impose the fine to set an example, directing Samad to deposit ₹1 lakh with the court by July 22 and also undergo 15 days of community service.

However, senior advocate Bhaskar Tanna, who was seen drinking a beer-like beverage during an online hearing on June 26 in a separate incident, was pardoned by the court.