Punjab & Haryana HC pulls up advocate for claiming he had ‘made’ many a judge

Justice Arun Monga doubled the costs in the case to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 50,000 after advocate Sushil Gautam’s boast, saying the court was taking a lenient view.

Punjab & Haryana High Court in Chandigarh | Commons

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has reprimanded an advocate for “boisterous” behaviour and claiming that he had “made” many judges.

The advocate, Sushil Gautam, lost a case and then turned “rowdy”, according to the court. Gautam went on to say he had been “instrumental in making many a judge”, and asked how the court could reject his arguments.

Punjab & Haryana HC Justice Arun Monga, in an order passed Tuesday, said although Gautam’s conduct left a lot to be desired, the court was choosing to show restraint. But he did double the costs in the case from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh after the advocate declared that he could “easily” pay more.

The case

The case dealt with an educational trust in Haryana — Gautam was appearing for petitioner Shiv Kumar Chauhan, who had prayed that the Swami Vivekananda Educational and Charitable Trust be dissolved.

Justice Monga dismissed the case, and fined the petitioner Rs 50,000 for concealing facts related to the case. The court noted that the petitioner had not told the court that two cases related to the matter were already sub judice before a civil court in Kaithal. The court asked the petitioner to deposit the fine in the Covid-19 relief fund created by the Chandigarh administration.

But Sushil Gautam did not take kindly to the judgment.

“At this stage, the learnt counsel for the petitioner very rowdy exuberates that paying costs is not an issue and he is even ready to pay Rs 1.00 lac (sic) towards the same. He also boisterously claims that he has been instrumental in making many judges and how can his arguments/contentions, therefore, be rejected by this court to dismiss the instant petition,” the concluding para of Justice Monga’s order stated.

“To say the least, the tone, tenor, manner and conduct of the learned counsel for petitioner leaves a lot to desire. Yet, taking a lenient view thereof, this court rather prefers a self-restraint from taking any further action. However, on the invitation of the learned counsel for the petitioner, the cost imposed is enhanced to Rs 1 lac.”

Judge’s previous moments in the spotlight

Last week, Justice Monga had “blessed” an advocate who had appeared before him in the middle of his wedding rituals.

In June this year, Justice Monga had asked the Punjab government why the word “mistress” was being used for teachers — it seemed like an undignified way to address them, he said.