Lawyer sentenced to six months imprisonment for Contempt of Court: Allahabad HC [Read Judgment]

Every order passed by Court will be in favour of one of the party and against another.The losingpartycannotbeallowedto challenge the very integrity of Judicial Officer in passing an order and that too without any material to support such an allegation, the bench said.

Allahabad High Court has convicted a lawyer for committing criminal contempt of subordinate Court and has sentenced him to undergo simple imprisonment of six months.

Division bench of Justices Sudhir Agarwal and Shamsher Bahadur Singh has also restrained the lawyer from entering the High Court and District court premises for a period of three years.

The lawyer, had hurled abuses and made wild allegations of bribery and corruption against Reference Officer (Civil Judge) and threatened him of dire consequences when he would come out of Court after Court hours.

The court said that the lawyer was asked to place on record any material and evidence to substantiate his allegations of bribe etc. levelled against Judicial Officer(s) and was told that in case the same can be proved, the court would take all steps, permissible in law, to weed out such a Judicial Officer from the cadre of Judicial Officers of subordinate Courts but he failed and did not make any attempt to do so.

The court made following observation about how abusing the judge and creating aspersions on him would amount to contempt.

• If an impression is made in the mind of public that Judges act on extraneous considerations in deciding cases, confidence of litigants, in particular, and, public in general, in the administration of justice is bound to be undermined. No greater mischief than that can possibly be imagined.
• Criticism of an order of a Court cannot be equated with making scurrilous attack on the conduct and integrity of the Judicial Officer/Presiding Officer of the Court.
• Every order passed by Court will be in favour of one of the party and against another. The losing party cannot be allowed to challenge the very integrity of Judicial Officer in passing an order and that too without any material to support such an allegation.
• If there is something lacking on the part of a Judicial Officer touching his integrity, Advocates, being Officers of the Court, may not remain a silent spectator, but should come forward, raising their voice in an appropriate manner before the proper authority, but there cannot be a licence to any member of Bar to raise his finger over the competence and integrity etc. of a Judicial Officer, casually or negligently, or on other irrelevant grounds.

The court also pointed out the important role Advocates have to play in delivery of Justice. The court said that an Advocate's duty is as important as that of a Judge.“He, who practices law, is not merely a lawyer, but acts as moral agent. This character, he cannot shake off, by any other character on any professional character, he derives from the belief that he shares sentiment of all mankind. This influence of his morality is one of his possession, which, like all his possession, he is bound to use for moral ends. Members of the Bar, like Judges, are the officers of the court”, the bench said.

Read the Judgment here.