"There is Redemption For Everything": SC Explores The Feasibility Of Restoring Senior Gown To Yatin Oza As An Interim Measure To Monitor His Conduct

The Supreme Court on Tuesday urged the Gujarat High Court to consider the feasibility of restoring the senior gown to Advocate Yatin Oza upon the reopening of the High Court post the summer recess, as an interim measure, to monitor his conduct to decide if the arrangement can be made permanent.Senior Advocate C. A. Sundaram, for the Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association, advanced, "Can a statement against the High Court registry be treated as contempt? What can be the extent of criticism? Of course there is no excuse for intemperate language, and I agree that he should apologise. But if the criticism of the registry can be treated as contempt, it is a cause of great concern for us as an association. It negates our own!""Nobody says that the Registry cannot be criticised. Everything is about the language. A lot of things can be said in a nice manner", observed Justice S. K. Kaul.Mr. Sundaram voiced the request of the Association for Oza's unconditional apology to be accepted and for the matter to be dropped.Senior advocate Dr AM Singhvi, appearing for Oza, clarified at the outset that he was not approaching the matter in an egotistical, technical manner or a narrow sense."Your Lordships are entitled to throw away every rule in the rulebook against me. From day one, when I wrote something and received something, even without Your Lordships' prodding, even without any threat, I have unconditionally apologised. It is a different thing that nobody was inclined to accept my apology. I have learnt a lesson. This matter does not need to go further. Even if Your Lordships exculpate me, in these past seven months, I have learnt the lesson of my life", began Dr. Singhvi."Arriving at a unanimous decision by a full court is a very difficult thing. If you, by your conduct, have invited this decision by the full court, something must have been done", noted Justice Kaul."Like it is said 'Slap. Say 'sorry'. Move on. Slap again', unless someone is an utter fool, considering these seven months of taking away of the gown, the idea of repetition would not even enter his dreams. Theoretically, it may be possible- like we say 'never say never'...We can't wipe out what has already been written. Only an unconditional apology can wipe that out. And this apology is without any prodding! We can't say 'tear off the paper where he gave the press conference'", continued Dr. Singhvi."But there are three points – this apology was immediate, at the threshold, it was unconditional and uncontrived. We know how apologies can be artificial. Secondly, he knows that all of us at the bar are helping him so he won't repeat this act. Thirdly, the context must be appreciated. There is obviously no justification. He was under severe pressure and he resigned", advanced Dr. Singhvi."If this was the first episode, we could have said that everyone can make a mistake. But such instances have repeatedly happened. We know that all of us are capable of making mistakes. But he is the leader of the bar. What guidance is he giving to his colleagues? The other junior judges learn from the senior judges. Similarly, the younger members of the bar learn from the senior counsel", remarked Justice Kaul."Your Lordships know how to take care of such things. The High Court took care of this for seven months. Your Lordships have dealt with contempt on several occasions, but there has never been a blanket, indefinite suspension of the gown" pressed Dr Singhvi. When Justice Kaul pointed out that this submission may not be right, Dr Singhvi clarified that such an action is rarely taken, and "aberrations apart, a person is generally punished for one month, three months, five months"."But the matter here was very serious", commented Justice Kaul."Your Lordships, please modulate the history of the case. Disproportionality is what attracts the beneficial exercise of the jurisdiction in law. If Your Lordships decide on giving him life again, Your Lordships also know how to keep him on a leash", urged Dr Singhvi."If we transverse this path, how should we go about it? How should we make sure that this does not occur again?", asked Justice Kaul."Ultimately, these are only words...Your Lordships have the warning, Your Lordships have the leash, and Your Lordships can have the permission in them. If Your Lordships let him have his gown back, in the light of the last seven months, Your Lordships can say that if anything remotely similar happens, there will be consequences which will result automatically. This is the best I can say", suggested Dr Singhvi."I also don't believe in the hanging philosophy. But what would be the appropriate 'ankush'? ", asked Justice Kaul."A sternly-worded order with these three things (warning, leash and permission). Your Lordships are here to control the leash. I don't think anybody would be that foolish as to repeat the mistake after everything that has happened. If somebody is that foolish, none of us would support him. He has been before this court...

"There is Redemption For Everything": SC Explores The Feasibility Of Restoring Senior Gown To Yatin Oza As An Interim Measure To Monitor His Conduct

Mehal Jain

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