The hearing on Sudarshan TV case saw some bizarre scenes on Monday as an advocate representing right-wing portal OpIndia appeared shirtless during the video conference meeting.
According to a Live Law report, Supreme Court Justice DY Chandrachud expressed shock at the incident and aksed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to speak with the lawyer concerned to ensure that the mistake was not repeated.
Opindia.com has filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking impleadment in the case regarding Sudarshan TV's show on 'UPSC Jihad'. The intervention plea filed by OpIndia, Indic Collective Trust and UpWord in apeax court mentions reporting on ‘Saffron terror’ and alleged "fake news demonising Hindus".
As the session started on Monday, the image of a lawyer without shirt flashed on the screen for a few seconds. Despite Justice Chandrachud asking several times who the advocate was, there was no response.
At the end of the meeting, Justice Chandrachud shared his displeasure with Mehta over the incident and said, "Some counsel appeared without wearing shirt during VC. There has to be some decorum."
Justice Indu Malhotra who was also part of the bench said, "This is very bad".
Chandrachud said that such an incident is an affront to the court as even though hearings are happening through VC, this is a full -fledged regular court, Live Law reported.
He said that he does not want to take action in such incidents but lawyers need to be extra cautious when they appear before the court, the report said.
The lawyer for OpIndia confirmed that the gaffe was indeed committed by him. He explained to FPJ that he was dressed for a religious function and inadvertently appeared on the screen. The lawyer was performing "Vijayadashami puja" in his house and was wearing only dhoti without a shirt as the ritual required when he was added to the VC.
The lawyer, who did not want to be named, said he was in the middle of a "puja" and just came running to the hearing and was trying to switch off the screen. He exited the meeting upon realising that he appeared on screen without a shirt. He told FPJ that he has already spoken to SG Tushar Mehta over the matter and will write an email with an explanation and apology.
OpIndia also issued a statement saying that it was "proud" of its AOR who was committed enough to monitor the court proceedings during the ceremony.
OpIndia statement |
