Supreme Court Temporarily Restores Senior Designation Of Yatin Oza For 2 Years

"It will be for the High Court to take a final call whether his behaviour is acceptable in which case the High Court can decide to continue with his designation temporarily or restore it permanently. Needless to say that if there is any infraction in the conduct of the petitioner within this period of two years, the High Court would be well within its rights to withdraw the indulgence which we have given for two years which in turn is predicated on the assurances given by the petitioner and his counsel for the immaculate behaviour without giving any cause to the High Court to find fault with his conduct. In effect, the fate of the petitioner is dependent on his appropriate conduct as a senior counsel before his own High Court, which will have the final say", the Court has clarified.

The bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and R. Subhash Reddy passed the order in an appeal filed by Mr. Oza challenging the decision of the Gujarat High Court to revoke his senior designation on account of certain comments made by him against the High Court registry. The High Court had also held him guilty of contempt of court for his public comments. The adverse comments were made by Oza while he was the President of the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association.

In the light of Mr. Oza's previous run-ins with the judiciary, the bench observed, "One more chance after the last chance. That appears to be what is sought to be urged on behalf of the petitioner, Mr. Yatin Narendra Oza - counsel with many years standing, President of the Bar Association of the High Court of Gujarat on many occasions, and an erstwhile designated Senior Advocate. The privilege of the Senior's gown has been withdrawn unanimously by a Full Bench of the Gujarat High Court and that is what is sought to be assailed in the present petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. This is not the petitioner's first run in with the High Court or for that matter the Supreme Court. The problem appears to be that the petitioner does not seem to keep a balance between his role as a senior counsel and as President of the Bar Association and, thus, crosses the Lakshman Rekha repeatedly. In the written note filed on behalf of the Gujarat High Court (for short 'High Court'), it has been pointed out that he made certain utterances in 2006 against two named Judges, casting aspersions on their faith and their allegiance to the Constitution of India and the laws; claiming that they had instead mortgaged the same with the political powers that be at that time. This resulted in the issuance of a notice of contempt on 27.4.2006 and his role was commented upon in the earlier orders dated 30.8.2006 and 12.10.2006. Though they were finally expunged by this Court, seeking to give a long rope to the petitioner. The petitioner's apology was accepted with an undertaking, which was reported in Yatin Narendra Oza v. Khemchand Rajaram Koshti and Ors".

Narrating the genesis of the instant proceedings, the bench recorded that on 21.03.2020, Mr. Oza wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India making serious allegations against a senior-most Judge of the High Court in his capacity as President of the Bar Association. He then "transgressed all limits by circulating the letter in the Bar Association's WhatsApp group on 8.6.2020, three days after calling the High Court a 'Gamblers Den'". "The WhatsApp messages were circulated by holding a Press Conference 05.06.2020, thereby making allegations of impropriety against the Institution of the High Court itself", recorded the bench.

The bench recorded that Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, for Mr. Oza, really sought to canvas on the proportionality of the Full Court's decision, as did Mr. Oza, who intermittently addressed the Court; even volunteering that he at times loses his balance while performing the role as the President of the Bar and that he is willing to give an undertaking that he will never contest elections to the Bar Association. "We informed him that was a decision of his own to take and we certainly would not like to inhibit his right to contest the elections as a member of the Bar. It was his say and that of his counsel that the petitioner has learnt his lesson and, thus, an opportunity must be given to him for redemption. The withdrawal of designation was stated to be the most severe punishment for any Senior Advocate...", notes the bench.

In the conspectus of the aforesaid, the bench conceded that "we really find little ground to interfere with the impugned order before us"

However, stating that while it respects the views of the High Court, the bench expressed the view to still endeavour to give one more and last chance to the petitioner.

"In a way this can really be done by recourse to Article 142 of the Constitution of India as there is merit in the contention of the learned counsel for the High Court that there is no real infringement of the fundamental rights of the petitioner. The question is in what manner this last chance should be given? We are of the view that the ends of justice would be served by seeking to temporarily restore the designation of the petitioner for a period of two years from 1.1.2022", said the bench.