Karnataka High Court drops contempt cases against lawyer who made accusations against sitting judges

The Karnataka High Court on Friday dropped three criminal contempt of court cases against a lawyer who had made allegations against sitting judges of the Court. [High Court of Karnataka v. KS Anil].A Bench of Chief Justice PB Varale and Justice Ashok S Kinagi closed the three criminal contempt cases after accepting the unconditional apology tendered by Advocate KS Anil..On February 2, 2023, the High Court had remanded Anil to judicial custody for contempt of court after he made certain allegations against judges in a memo seeking transfer of earlier contempt proceedings initiated against him in 2019 and 2020.Anil had argued that the earlier notices issued to him were not properly served, and that observations in an earlier order were not in consonance with the events of that day. This, according to him, was a conspiracy against him for fighting against corruption..The Court had recorded that the earlier behaviour of the accused and his allegations indicated that he was trying to demean the institution."The accused being a practicing advocate and consistent behaviour of the accused on the earlier occasions and today making wild allegations against the judicial system and the Judicial Officers in particular indicates that he is trying to demean the institution and is lowering the image of the judicial system in public eye," the February 2 order recorded.Thus, the Court directed Anil to be remanded to judicial custody and listed the cases for hearing on February 10..On that date, the accused was presented before the Court. In a written memo, he stated,"I am seeking/tendering apology in all Crl.CCC cases pending before the High Court i.e., CH-1 and CH-4".On being told by the Court to file an affidavit to support his statement, the accused did the same, adding that he was a trial court junior advocate and was suffering from physical pain, mental stress and other ailments.He further stated that he lacked proficiency in both English and advocacy, and had no guidance from senior advocates..The Karnataka High Court was represented by High Court Government Pleader (HCGP) Thejesh P..[Read Order]