The Gujarat High Court Tuesday initiated contempt proceedings against a senior advocate for sipping beer and talking on the phone during a virtual hearing of a case. A division bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and R.T. Vachhani said that advocate Bhaskar Tanna’s conduct could warrant the withdrawal of his designation as a senior advocate. However, the court decided to take further action after hearing the case.
The incident occurred June 25 before a bench of Justice Sandeep Bhatt, and a video clip was subsequently circulated on social media. Justice Supehia said, “A video clip of the proceedings of the High Court, which was widely circulated on social media, showed his objectionable behaviour, such as talking on the phone and sipping from a beer mug while attending the hearing.”
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Senior Gujarat lawyer Bhaskar Tanna was seen sipping a mug of beer during the virtual hearing.
The court said that Tanna’s actions could have far-reaching consequences and, if ignored, would be disastrous for the rule of law. The court said, “We direct the registry to initiate contempt of court proceedings against senior advocate Bhaskar Tanna. The registry will submit a report before the next hearing date.”
