Delhi High Court holds lawyer guilty of contempt for appearing before court in drunken state

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has held a lawyer guilty of criminal contempt for appearing before a magisterial court while being drunk and using "foul and abusive" language.

A bench headed by Justice Prathiba M Singh said the judicial officer presiding over the magisterial court was a woman and the manner in which the contemnor addressed her was 'completely unacceptable' and appearing before a court in a drunken state was "unpardonable".

"A perusal of the language used by the Respondent-Contemnor qua the Judicial Officer would leave no iota of doubt that it would fall in the definition of criminal contempt as defined under the Contempt of Courts Act. The language used by the Contemnor in fact has scandalised the Court and such conduct also leads to interference in the administration of justice. The words spoken are foul and abusive," the bench, also comprising Justice Amit Sharma, said in a recent order.

"Appearing before a Court in a drunken state is also unpardonable. The same is contempt on the face of the Court. Thus, this Court has no doubt in holding that the Respondent is guilty of criminal contempt," the court stated.

The bench noted that the order passed by the Metropolitan Magistrate (Traffic) showed that on October 30, 2015, the accused-owner of the vehicle had appeared before the court along with his lawyer, the contemnor in the present case, who started shouting during the proceedings and used abusive and filthy language.

The court stated that while it was inclined to punish the lawyer for criminal contempt, it did not award any sentence as he had already served a sentence of over 5 months following an FIR registered over his conduct.

"The period already undergone by the respondent herein is held as the punishment for the present criminal contempt," the court said.