A walk to forget? Why Delhi High Court slapped ₹10,000 costs on advocate

The Delhi High Court on Friday imposed costs of ₹10,000 on an advocate for appearing in court virtually while walking in the garden.

Justice Om Prakash Shukla said that the lawyer's conduct was in violation of the Electronic Evidence and Video Conferencing Rules, 2025.

"Learned Counsel is appearing in this matter while walking in the garden and the connection is also not proper. This is in violation of the Electronic Evidence and Video Conferencing Rules, 2025 of this Court. Accordingly, costs of Rs.10,000/- is imposed on the learned counsel for the petitioner, to be deposited before the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee within a week from today," the Court ordered.

It added that on the next date of hearing on November 4, the counsel must appear in person.

The Court passed the order while dealing with an arbitration petition.

Notably, this is not the first time Justice Shukla has objected to persons appearing virtually in improper manner.

Last month, he had fined a lawyer ₹1 lakh for appearing in court while sitting in a moving car.

He observed that the convenience of virtual proceedings cannot come at the cost of courtroom decorum or disrupt the conduct of judicial proceedings.