SC junks plea of lawyer convicted for abusing woman judge inside courtroom

New Delhi, Jun 10 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a lawyer's plea against his 18-month jail term for verbally assaulting a woman judge inside a courtroom in the national capital on October 30, 2015.

A bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan rejected the appeal of advocate Sanjay Rathore against the May 26 verdict of the Delhi High Court.

The high court refused to reduce the sentence awarded to the lawyer for outraging the modesty of the woman judicial officer.

“How can a woman judicial officer act and discharge the judicial functions?” the bench asked, referring to the lawyer's “abusive comments” during the court proceedings.

The lawyer was reportedly angry over the adjournment of his case related to the traffic challan and created a ruckus inside the courtroom besides using abusive and filthy language against the metropolitan magistrate.

The top court wasn't impressed by the lawyer's submissions for leniency and having "suffered a lot due to his acts".

“No. Nothing can be done..We have to see the nature of the case. Here a woman judicial officer is abused in a courtroom,” the bench retorted.

The high court while dismissing the plea of the lawyer said any act which threatened or intimidated a judge through gender-specific abuse was an assault on justice itself.

“When the dignity of any judicial officer is torn by way of use of filthy words proved beyond reasonable doubt, the law must act as the thread that would mend and restore it," the high court said on May 26.

Upholding his punishment, the high court ordered the lawyer's surrender within 15 days from the date of the order and said it was not merely individual misbehaviour, but a case in which "injustice was done to justice itself".

A judge who symbolises the impartial voice of the law became the target of personal attack while discharging her official duties, it added.

"It is a matter of deep concern that, at times, even the seat of justice cannot guarantee immunity from gendered abuse. When a female judge becomes the target of personal indignity and humiliation by an officer of the court – an advocate, as in the present case – it reflects not only a personal wrong but also the systemic vulnerability women continue to face, even at the highest echelons of legal authority," the high court said.

The high court also refused to reduce the lawyer's sentence to five months, which he had already served.

The court, however, modified the trial court's order for the jail term to run concurrently and not consecutively. The trial court had ordered consecutive jail terms, adding up to two years.

The woman presiding officer of the trial court submitted a formal complaint with the police after the incident in October 2015, alleging that the advocate "insulted her and outraged her modesty, being a female judicial officer and also insulted the court's dignity". PTI SJK SJK AMK AMK