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Lawyers Can Take Action Against Litigant Harassing Them Over Queries Raised By Court: Madras High Court
Upasana Sajeev
1 Aug 2023 6:32 AM GMT
The Madras High Court on Monday said that if a litigant harasses a lawyer over certain queries raised by the court, the lawyer can initiate action against such party.The division bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice PD Audikesavalu made the remark while hearing a public interest litigation filed by a final year law student seeking to establish government run old age homes in...
The Madras High Court on Monday said that if a litigant harasses a lawyer over certain queries raised by the court, the lawyer can initiate action against such party.
The division bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice PD Audikesavalu made the remark while hearing a public interest litigation filed by a final year law student seeking to establish government run old age homes in every district of Tamil Nadu in accordance with Section 19(1) of The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007.
In the previous hearing, the petitioner side had submitted that there was not even a single government-run old age home in the state. To this, the court had taken a stern view and orally remarked that if the statement made by the petitioner was found to be incorrect, the court would impose a cost of Rs. 50,000.
When the case was taken up on Monday, the counsel for the petitioner submitted a memo to the bench informing the court that after the previous hearing, the petitioner had been harassing him. The lawyer sought to withdraw from the case.
The court, while allowing the counsel to withdraw from the case, said:
"The petitioner is also present here and seeks time to engage another lawyer. While we grant him time, this Court feels it necessary to reiterate that any queries posed by us are for the benefit of the litigants and queries do not indicate our order. Also, any advocate, who is harassed by a litigant following the court’s queries, or even otherwise, is entitled to take appropriate action against the litigant".
Case Title: Pascal Sasil R v. State of Tamil Nadu
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 211
Case No: WP 21588 of 2023
