The Delhi High Court convicted Advocate Sanjay Rathod, who appeared intoxicated before a magistrate in a challan case and issued threats against her. The magistrate reported the incident to the High Court, leading to a contempt of court case that resulted in his conviction.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court found an advocate guilty of criminal contempt of court after he discovered to have attended court proceedings while intoxicated and issued threats to a judicial officer.
A Division Bench comprising Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Amit Sharma observed that appearing before the court while under the influence is an obvious act of contempt, and the way the lawyer interacted with the judge deemed entirely inappropriate.
The court observed,
“A review of the language used by the Respondent-Contemnor [Rathod] towards the Judicial Officer leaves no doubt that it constitutes criminal contempt as defined under the Contempt of Courts Act. The language employed by the Contemnor has scandalized the Court and interfered with the administration of justice. The words spoken are foul and abusive. Moreover, given that the Judicial Officer presiding was a lady, the manner in which the Contemnor addressed her is entirely unacceptable. Appearing before a Court in a drunken state is inexcusable and amounts to contempt in the face of the Court. Therefore, this Court unequivocally holds the Respondent guilty of criminal contempt.”
The Bench acknowledged that an FIR had been registered against Rathod on the same allegations, and he had already served five months in jail. As a result, no further sentence was imposed.
The court stated,
“While inclined to punish the Respondent for criminal contempt, given that he has already served over five months in relation to FIR no. 0885/2015, no additional sentence is imposed. The time already served by the Respondent is considered as the punishment for this criminal contempt.”
The incident occurred in 2015 when lawyer Sanjay Rathod appeared before the Metropolitan Magistrate (Traffic) at Karkardooma Court on behalf of an accused driver.
The case was initially addressed in the morning and adjourned to the following day. However, later that day, Rathod returned to the courtroom and began shouting at the judge. According to the trial court’s order, Rathod intoxicated and used abusive language towards the judge.
Following this incident, an FIR filed, and Rathod spent five months in jail.
The Metropolitan Magistrate subsequently communicated the incident to the High Court, which led to the initiation of a suo motu contempt of court case.
Advocate Vrinda Grover served as amicus curiae in the case, with assistance from advocates Sautik Banerjee and Devika Tulsiani.
Senior Advocate Rakesh Tiku, along with advocates Anil Kumar Varshneya and Sandeep Kumar, represented Sanjay Rathod.