Lawyer Shakti Chand Rana allegedly created ‘an unruly scene’, resorted to ‘verbally attacking the bench’ and ‘refused to leave the courtroom’ on December 14. The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a show cause notice in a suo motu criminal contempt case against a lawyer for allegedly misbehaving with a sitting judge of a high court and interrupting court proceedings. A division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh in its December 19 order said, “The suo moto contempt has been initiated pursuant to a direction issued by ld single judge as recorded in the order dated 14-12-2022. Having perused the said order we find it incumbent to issue notice to Mr Shakti Chand Rana…to show cause why proceedings for contempt be not initiated against him. The registry is directed to issue show cause notice by all permissible modes to be executed through the SHO of the concerned police station.” The high court has directed Rana to not only file a reply to the show cause notice but also to be present in court on the next date of hearing on January 30, 2023. The basis on which the suo motu contempt case was registered pertains to an order of a single judge of the high court before whom Rana appeared and abruptly disrupted court proceedings for 45 minutes. When he was informed that his matter was not listed before the court for hearing and was asked to remove himself, he “outrightly refused to remove himself and continued to shout, shriek and create an unruly scene, disrupting the court proceedings”, the order states. “From what the court could gather, given his loud utterances, he stated that there is an FIR lodged against him and he is required at that same moment to remain present for further proceedings in the said FIR before the concerned court…He thereafter started to make a phone call from his mobile phone and stated that he is making a call to the concerned investigation officer (IO) to apprise the IO that since he is standing before this court, he cannot be present…and further, the IO should come to this courtroom and arrest him. He proceeded to state that he will not leave the courtroom unless he is removed in handcuffs,” the order states. According to the order, Rana was requested to move out of the courtroom again, when he resorted to “verbally attacking the bench” and the judge’s staff members by stating that the “lodging of the said FIR against him is on account of this court”. He claimed that he was booked by the police as a consequence of an adjournment granted by the high court in a rent revision matter listed on a previous date. It was observed that since the lawyer refused to vacate the courtroom, the high court called for the registrar general who further called office bearers of the Delhi High Court Bar Association to counsel him. The office bearers reportedly heard him out and tried to persuade him to explain his grievance outside the courtroom. However, the lawyer “refused to leave the courtroom” and when security officials stepped in to remove him, he started yelling that “he is being assaulted and the security official once again stepped back since he was dressed in advocate’s robes to avoid any controversy”, the court noted. It was also observed that to resist being removed from the courtroom, the lawyer “tried to lie down on the floor and had to be dragged and removed physically”. The single judge observed that the lawyer’s outburst was “unwarranted” and that it was “prima facie evident” that the lawyer “deliberately disrupted the judicial proceedings of the court” to avoid appearing before another court on that day. “His remarks and conduct were intended to scandalise this court, to lower the authority of this court and to undermine the estimation of the public at large towards the judicial administration mechanism. Prima facie, the conduct of the said individual tantamounts to contempt, criminal in nature, in the face of the court,” the high court said.