7 bizarre virtual court hearings, from Coca-Cola to songs for Juhi Chawla
Think of a place where everyone is on a serious mode. Probably a courtroom, right?
A courtroom is one of the places where cracking jokes or indecent behaviour is a scenario next to impossible. But seems like not everyone thinks the same.
Many have made the impossible possible; not once, nor twice, but many times. Well, thanks to Covid-19.
With the emergence of Covid-19, everything went online... including the courtroom. And people took virtual hearings so casually that they even made it to the headlines.
Here, we have a list of such bizarre incidents that took place during virtual court hearings in India.
So, if you want to laugh for a good 2-3 minutes, read on. (There is no harm in doing so on a Friday.)
7 bizarre virtual courtroom moments in India:
1. THANDA MATLAB COCA-COLA
During this recent incident in Gujarat, police inspector AM Rathod was found sipping Coca-Cola while attending a virtual proceeding. Umm... priorities are quite clear here.
“Is this how an officer behaves? Would he have come to court with a Coca-Cola can?” the bench questioned the police official.
The judges also came up with the best possible solution.
Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh J Shastri asked the police inspector to distribute 100 Coca-Cola cans to the members of the bar association. Otherwise, the court will initiate disciplinary proceedings for the same.
“Show us virtually that you have received it. Otherwise, Rathod ko chhodenge nahi (we will not leave Rathod),” the bench said.
2. ANTAKSHARI TIME
Baithe baithe bore hue, Karna hai kuch kaam, shuru karo Antakshari...in the middle of a virtual proceeding. What!
Remember Juhi Chawla’s 5G case? She filed a petition against 5G that it could have a serious effect on one’s health and the environment.
The actress shared the link to the virtual proceeding on social media and urged people to join the same.
Now, what do you expect from so many people at the same time, joining in from different parts of the country?
The proceeding was interrupted by a tuneless singer.
He chose to sing Juhi Chawla’s song Ghoonghat ki aad se from her 1993 movie Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke.
Even muting him did not help. As this continued for quite some time, the person was removed from the hearing. The judges also asked to issue a notice against the identified person.
The besura tansen who crashed Juhi's party at the Court today.#JuhiChawla #5G#5ginindia(Meanwhile, I am humming Gazab Ka Hai Din, Socho Zara from QSQT) pic.twitter.com/23J2MASPyN
— Siddharth Zarabi (@szarabi) June 2, 2021
3. SKIP THE SHIRT
Not just the people or policemen, lawyers too take virtual hearings lightly (and later face the consequences).
We always imagine a lawyer dressed in black and white. But this lawyer from Jaipur decided to appear on the Zoom hearing in a vest, in April 2020.
Annoyed with the lawyer’s dress code, Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma adjourned the matter.
The judges later pulled up the lawyer and said, “Learned counsel for the petitioner was contacted through video conferencing and he was found to be wearing baniyan (vest). This court has already observed that during this pandemic where court functioning is being done through video conferencing, lawyers must appear in proper uniform.”
4. HOOKAH BAR
Addiction is bad; especially if you cannot keep your hands off even during work like court proceedings.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan was seen smoking hookah during a virtual hearing before the Supreme Court. The video went viral quickly.
In the video, the senior advocate can be seen covering his face with papers and smoking the hookah while lawyer Kapil Sibal argues.
In the video from April 2020, Rajeev Dhavan’s screen can be clearly seen (well, not so clearly) filled with smoke.
Rajeev Dhavan Sir got no chill ?#Hukka pic.twitter.com/EAUgu2kjcG
— Dr.Sunil Kumar (@DrSunilKumar_) September 8, 2020
5. BEDROOM SCENES
Now, this one went too far. The Tamil Nadu Bar Council suspended a Madras High Court lawyer as he was caught making out with a woman during court proceedings, with the camera on.
Not just suspension, the court also started disciplinary proceedings against him.
RD Santhana Krishnan cannot practice as an advocate in all courts, tribunals and other authorities in India either in his name or in any assumed name till the disposal of the disciplinary proceedings pending against him.
6. ON THE GO
In another virtual hearing, a lawyer decided not to miss his proceeding even if he was on a scooter.
In June 2021, the lawyer had to appear before Allahabad High Court. But he was riding a scooter at the scheduled time. So, he decided to attend the same on the go.
He was later asked not to repeat it in future.
Later, the High Court issued a judicial order stating that advocates cannot appear for hearings while driving a scooter, wearing colourful clothes, with a face mask on, or from bed.
7. SAB DHUAN DHUAN
Another incident took place in 2020 when a lawyer attended a virtual hearing while sitting in a car and smoking.
The Gujarat High Court decided to not let it go. JV Ajmera, the advocate, was fined with Rs 10,000 for this behaviour.
The court also asked advocates to attend proceedings from their offices or homes in appropriate sitting posture.
Since the onset of the pandemic, work from home has become the new normal. While these are just a handful of incidents, there are many more when lawyers took WFH way too seriously... or casually, however you look at it. Just like these, many others were caught eating, chewing tobacco, lying in bed and what not.
But each one of them faced repercussions soon.
Now as the world is going back to normal, the court is also gradually moving back to face-to-face hearings. This means we will see lawyers back in black and white attires. Without a Coca-Cola can, we can safely presume.