Karnataka High Court convicts advocate for misbehaviour inside courtroom in drunken state

The High Court of Karnataka has convicted a 55-year-old advocate for criminal contempt for repeatedly disrupting court proceedings, shouting at a civil judge in Karwar while appearing in the courtroom in an inebriated condition, and sentenced him to simple imprisonment for a day, till the rise of the court, while imposing a fine of ₹2,000.

A Division Bench of Justices Anu Sivaraman and Venkatesh Naik T found Pankaj Kaushik, a Karwar-based advocate, guilty under Section 12(1) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.

The High Court in 2022 had suo motu initiated a contempt proceedings against him based on the two letters by the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Karwar, in Uttara Kannada district, along with the communications received from the judge of the Additional Civil Judge and JMFC-II, Karwar, before whom the advocate had misbehaved on two occasions.

Two instances

The first incident occurred on April 8, 2022, when Mr. Kaushik, who was party-in-person in a domestic violence case filed by his wife, appeared before the civil court even though his case was not listed for hearing on that day.

He had shouted at the judge inside the courtroom complaining that no date was given for his case besides yelling at the court staff. Besides, he had also made oral allegation that the civil judge had “received money from his wife in the domestic violence case and ruled in her favour”. Despite warnings, he not only continued to misbehave but also made defamatory statements against the judges of the High Court.

However, Mr. Kaushik on April 11 submitted a letter tendering apology claiming that his behaviour was not intentional.

However, on April 20, 2022, Mr. Kaushik again interrupted the court proceedings when an advocate was arguing before the same civil court, demanding that his case be taken up. When the judge intervened, he shouted at everyone present in the court room.

Smelling of alcohol

On being found him smelling of alcohol and unsteady inside the courtroom, the civil judge sent him for a medical test to a Government hospital, which issued a certificate of drunkenness based on test results.

In his objections to the contempt proceedings, Mr. Kaushik denied the allegations and claimed he had been practising for 18 years without blemish. He said he suffered from epilepsy for over 35 years and was the sole caretaker of his bedridden 75-year-old mother.

However, the Bench noted that Mr. Kaushik, during the contempt proceedings against him, showed “no remorse” and had “attempted to justify his actions and proceeded to make scandalous and unfounded statements against the judicial institution as a whole”.

“His conduct can only be termed as deliberate and adamant and reveals complete apathy towards social, moral and judicial codes of conduct. We are of the clear opinion that if conduct of this nature is not punished, sociopaths like the accused are likely to repeat such offences with impunity which would endanger the rule of law and the judicial system as a whole,” the Bench observed.