A man was caught secretly recording a court hearing in the Bombay High Court. He admitted his mistake and agreed to pay Rs 1 lakh as a penalty.
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MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday found a relative of a litigant secretly recording the court hearing on his mobile phone. The court staff noticed this and immediately stopped him. When questioned, he admitted his mistake.
As a result, he agreed to pay Rs 1 lakh as a penalty for his wrongful act.
A team of Justices A S Gadkari and Kamal Khata was handling a property-related case between two brothers.
On February 27, during the court hearing, a person named Sajid Abdul Jabbar Patel was caught using his mobile phone to record the proceedings without permission. When confronted, Patel accepted that he had no approval to do so, which is against court rules.
Immediately, the court staff took his phone, switched it off, and handed it over to the court registry for safekeeping.
Patel, who is a relative of one of the respondents, showed his Aadhaar card, which confirmed his residence in Kharghar, Raigad district. His actions were immediately reported to advocate Hiten Venegavkar, who was representing the litigant in this case.
Venegavkar acknowledged that
“Patel had no permission to record”
and clarified that
“his actions couldn’t be justified.”
At this point, Venegavkar requested the court to be lenient since
“it was Patel’s first mistake.”
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He further informed the court that-
“Patel was willing to pay Rs 1 lakh as a penalty to the High Court Employees Medical Welfare Fund.”
The Bombay High Court accepted this statement and treated it as an undertaking. The court instructed Patel to deposit the fine within three days after the order was published on the court’s website.
The details for payment were provided, and the court also scheduled a review on March 5 to confirm if the payment had been made.
The legal representation in the case included:
- Advocate Ajay S Patil for the petitioner.
- Advocate Meet Sawant, instructed by KP Law Associates LLP, for Panvel Municipal Corporation.
- Advocate Hiten Venegavkar, along with advocate Harsh Dedhia, represented the individual respondents.
- Additional Government Pleader Savina R Crasto appeared for the State.
CASE TITLE:
Sameer Mohammad Yusuf Patel v PMC.
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