Ahmedabad: Days after a video surfaced on social media showing a man participating in a virtual court hearing while sitting on a toilet, the Gujarat High Court has ordered suo motu contempt proceedings against the Surat resident. The court noted that such “disorderly and uncontrolled behaviour” is becoming increasingly common and observed that the video had damaged the judiciary’s reputation.

In an oral order issued on June 30 and uploaded on Thursday, a division bench comprising Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice R.T. Vachhani directed the court registry to initiate contempt proceedings after verifying the incident and to submit a report by the next hearing.

The court instructed that the viral video, which it said had tarnished the court’s image, must be “immediately banned and deleted.” It further ordered that a notice be issued to the person involved, asking why he should not be prosecuted under Section 2(c) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. The matter will be heard after two weeks.

Additionally, the bench said that presiding judges may suspend live streaming in such cases. The Registrar (IT) was directed to inform the court about technical measures that could prevent litigants from misusing the live-streaming process.

The incident occurred on June 20, during a virtual hearing in a case before Justice Nirzar Desai, where the man, a complainant in an FIR registered at Kim police station in Surat, appeared on video sitting on a toilet. He was later seen washing and walking out of the bathroom, all while awaiting his turn. DeshGujarat