Misbehaviour with lawyer discharging duty is contempt of court: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court on Monday observed that any misbehavior with lawyer in connection with court proceedings will amount to contempt of court as they are officers of the Court [Sachin Yadav v State of UP]

Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal made the observation while dealing with a case in which the PRO of a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) was accused of misbehaving with a government counsel over phone.

"Whenever they [government counsel] inform to any officer about the compliance of the order of this Court, they are discharging their duty in compliance of the order of the Court and misbehaving with them by any officer may be the top-most officer of the State will amount to contempt," the Court said.

Considering that PRO Rajesh Kumar Singh had misbehaved with Additional Government Advocate Anurag Pandey when he was trying to inform him about court's orders in a bail matter, the bench ordered that Singh be kept in the Court's custody till 5 PM.

"This Court instead of passing any stricture against him, directs that he be taken into custody and he will remain in the custody of court till 5 pm, whereafter he shall be released," it said.

The Court also directed the Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh to issue a circular to all the police officers that any misbehavior with State law officers entrusted with informing them about any court order will be treated as a contempt of court and shall be dealt with strictly in accordance with law.

The order was passed while hearing a bail application of a man accused of publishing "obscene videos" of a victim on social media.

The Court in September had summoned the Investigating Officer (IO) after finding various facts missing from the counter affidavit filed by the State.

After IO Vinay Kumar Mishra failed to appear before the Court, SSP Amamgarh was asked to execute a non-bailable warrant against him. Mishra later informed the Court that he was never informed about the court orders seeking his presence.

The Court then directed SSP Azamgarh as well as the Station House Officer of Maharajganj to appear personally before it. The Court also summoned the SSP's PRO after it was informed that he had misbehaved with the government counsel appearing in the matter.

On October 12, SSP Dr. Anil Kumar informed the Court that show cause notices have been issued to the SHO of Maharajganj and Sub Inspector Subhash Singh for their negligence in the matter.

Kumar also said that a show cause notice was issued to the PRO as well. Further, he said that the PRO has now been removed from the post.

The Court appreciated the SSP for the prompt action.

[Read Order]