‘Members of judiciary must exhibit patience’: Matter resolved, SC refuses to pass any further orders in Andhra HC junior lawyer row
A video of the May 4 incident showed the judge “calling the police” to take custody of a young advocate who behaved “indolently” even as the latter kept “begging for grace”. The top court noted that the HC judge's direction did not translate into an executable order.
The SC bench also called upon HCs to constitute Grievance Redressal Committees (GRCs) to address issues between the bar and the bench. Noting that the recent controversy over a courtroom outburst by an Andhra Pradesh High Court judge against a young advocate was resolved amicably with the involvement of the HC Chief Justice and the Bar Association, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to pass any further orders in the matter even as it advised judges to be patient and compassionate towards junior lawyers and encourage them.
Taking up the representations submitted in this regard by lawyers’ bodies, which were registered as petitions, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant (CJI) said on Monday that the report from the High Court CJ indicated that during the hearing, the judge gathered the impression that the lawyer had slammed a file when he failed to get relief, whereas, according to the lawyer, the file had slipped from his hand.
Though the clip showed the judge directing police custody of the accused, the two-judge SC bench said that it did not translate into an executable order.
Stating that no further orders were needed in the matter, the bench, also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi, said, “Members of the judiciary at all levels must exhibit patience, compassion and spirit of encouragement towards all, especially young members of the bar.”
The top court said, “While it is certainly a solemn duty of senior members of the bar to inculcate discipline, professional ethics and continuous learning, the responsibility does not lie with the bar alone, but with the bench as well, to nurture a sense of duty, integrity, so that every lawyer sees themselves as an officer of the court first”.
The report of the HC CJ also said that the video clip, which got widely circulated, was bereft of the context behind the developments.
Taking note of this, the SC said, “We make an unequivocal observation that media has a vital role in this regard. Dissemination of decontextualised videos can cause unwarranted prejudice. We, therefore, expect that media will play a proactive role with a heightened sense of responsibility.”
A video of the May 4 incident that had gone viral on social media had shown Justice T Rajasekhar Rao “calling the police” to take custody of an advocate who behaved “indolently” even as the young counsel kept “begging for grace” with folded hands.
Following the incident, CJI Justice Kant had sought a report from the HC CJ into the matter. Representations were received from the Bar Council of India and Supreme Court Bar Association seeking the top court’s intervention in the matter.
The SC bench also called upon HCs to constitute Grievance Redressal Committees (GRCs) to address issues between the bar and the bench. “We deem it apt to impress upon High Courts to constitute GRC, which must associate members of Bar Councils/Associations. Such committees to be constituted at the district/taluka level also,” the court said.
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