Orissa High Court Issues Contempt Notice To Tangi Bar Association President For Threatening Woman Judicial Officer

Nayak also allegedly misbehaved with her in a threatening voice by questioning her experience and saying that she was a new entrant while he was a seasoned professional. The judicial officer had written to the Registrar of District Court after the incident and stated that a threat was issued to her that her court will be boycotted for rejecting the bail application.

It was also alleged that Nayak even on earlier occasions had threatened her. "He has propensity to call for boycotting of the court whenever any order had gone against his interest. An unhealthy atmosphere has been unleashed in the Tangi Court," the high court was told.

The division bench said:

"According to us, sufficient materials are on records to take cognizance of criminal contempt committed by the Opp. Party. The act of the Opp. Party comes within the meaning of 'criminal contempt' as defined under Section-2(C) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. His conduct has not only scandalized the Judicial Magistrate but also interfered with the due course of the judicial proceeding. Further, he has tended to obstruct the process of administration of justice."

The court said the cognizance is taken under Section 15(2) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. Ordering that a copy of its order be furnished to the Chairman, Odisha State Bar Council and to the state Advocate General, the court asked the latter to assist it in the matter.

"The notice is made returnable on 17.11.2022," the court said. 

Factual Background

The Chief Justice had referred a matter to the division bench on October 30.  In the letter dated October 21, Moharana narrated in detail Nayak's conduct. 

The Court noted that the letter reveals he abused the Judicial Magistrate in "filthy language" from outside her chamber and uttered "how dare the P.O. reject the bail petition".

Thereafter, at about 5.20 PM, when the Judicial Magistrate was proceeding towards her residence, the opposite party physically obstructed her way outside the court building, but inside the court premises.

At that time, the letter further revealed, he was accompanied by some "non-practitioner advocates of Tangi Bar Association and some outsiders comprising of total 60 to 70 people in the Court premises". They stopped her and threatened her by saying "how dare you reject the bail petition".

According to the letter, the Judicial Magistrate tried to pacify him by saying that the accused person had antecedents of criminal activities and he was entangled in two more cases. 

"Hence, she had rejected the bail petition. She had further stated to them that she had given those reasons in her order rejecting the bail prayer of the accused for whom the Opp. Party was appearing. She had further reminded the Opp. Party that, if the accused was aggrieved by her order, they had the remedy in the superior Courts. The Opp. Party and his companions did not relent and continued to misbehave with her in a threatening voice by calling her experience in question that she was a new entrant and he was a seasoned professional," the court order records.

She further mentioned that the whole incident took place in presence of Court staff, Police escorts of two Police Stations and CASI staff and other outsiders. She also narrated a past incident by stating:

"…even two months ago, when one of our group-D staffs namely Susanta Kumar Sethi was performing night watchman duty in the Court, as at that time, Tangi Bar Association had called for cease work and they were staying in the Court premises till very late hours, at that time at about 11.45 P.M. to 12 A.M., my staff Susanta Kumar Sethi called me and told me that the Bar President being fully drunk was hitting the main door of the Court building and when my staff had enquired about the matter, then he [had] abused him in highly un-parliamentary and obscene languages and even abused me in front of him in my name."

Notably, it is not the first instance when the Bar members of Tangi Bar Association have shown their unruly behaviour. In September, a division bench of Justices S. Talapatra and Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo had ordered police escort for a lawyer who was obstructed by the said bar members from submitting bail bonds of his client.

Case Title: Registrar (Judicial), Orissa High Court v. Nakul Kumar Nayak, President, Lawyers Bar Association, Tangi

Order Dated: 1^st November 2022

Coram: S. Talapatra & S.K. Panigrahi, JJ.