Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against one Abdul Samad of Surat for attending a virtual court hearing while sitting on a toilet on June 20, 2025, in alleged derogation of judicial decorum.
The incident happened Wednesday during a case hearing before Justice Nirzar S. Desai, who was hearing a cheque bounce case. A one-minute video went viral on social media in which Samad, an applicant from Kim village, Surat, was seen taking part in the proceedings over a video call while being seated on a latrine. The video, which was taken during the court’s live-streamed session on YouTube, sent shock waves across the country and the world, with the court taking action as a result. On June 30, a division bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and R.T. Vachhani passed an oral order, uploaded on July 3, directing the High Court registry to issue a notice for contempt under Section 2(c) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
The bench termed the act as “contumacious” and bringing disrepute to the dignity of the court. “The notorious video defaming the court is circulating in the social media all over and the same has to be banned and immediately deleted,” the court said. It also directed the Registrar of Information and Technology to devise a system for preventing such “disorderly and uncontrolled behaviour,” saying such occurrences have been repeated during virtual hearings.
The video is of Samad, who was wearing Bluetooth earphones, placing his phone on the floor with the camera pointing towards him. After completing the task, he re-joined the hearing from some other room introducing himself as the complainant in an assault case trying to get the FIR quashed. The court has issued a notice to Samad, seeking his reply on why he should not be prosecuted for contempt. The issue is listed for further hearing on July 14, with the registry asked to file a report whether the incident is correct or not.
This is not the first time this has occurred. In March 2025, the Gujarat High Court fined a litigant ₹2 lakh and sentenced two weeks of community service after he attended a virtual hearing while sitting in a lavatory. Another man was fined ₹50,000 for smoking while on a video conference call in April. The court has made clear time and again that virtual hearings introduced amid the COVID-19 pandemic require the same level of discipline and respect for the live-streamed paces of justice, which are available to the public on YouTube.
The action taken by the Gujarat High Court reflects its seriousness in maintaining the dignity of the judiciary. As virtual hearings stay in play, the court’s push for additional means of oversight is part of a larger push to tamp down on repeated infractions and it for attempts to preserve public confidence in the judiciary.