Attending virtual court proceedings from toilet costs Gujarat man ₹1 lakh. Here's what happened
The court also said it is considering sending the person concerned, named Samad Abdul Rehman Shah, to jail as his conduct was contumacious.
"The contemnor has admitted about his conduct during the live-streaming proceedings. Thus, at this stage, we direct the contemnor to deposit ₹ 1 lakh before the registry of this court before the next date of hearing," said a Division Bench of Justices AS Supehia and RT Vachhani.
The High Court also noted that despite its order, the HC Registrar (Information & Technology) has not filed a reply and no steps have been suggested about how such incidents can be stopped.
The counsel appearing for the Registrar told the Division Bench that he would assist the court on the next hearing date.
The case has been listed for the next hearing on July 22.
In June, a video went viral on social media showing Samad attending Gujarat High Court's virtual proceedings while seated on a toilet and apparently relieving himself.
The incident took place on June 20 before the bench of Justice Nirzar S. Desai.
Initially in the video, a closeup of the man featured, showing Samad wearing a Bluetooth earphone.
Subsequently, he was seen keeping his phone at a distance, revealing that he was seated on a toilet.
The man was appearing as a respondent in a case seeking quashing of a first information report (FIR). He was the complainant in the criminal case, Bar and Bench report said citing the court records.
After an amicable resolution between the parties, the Gujarat High Court quashed the FIR.
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