Criminal Contempt for misconduct Lawyer sentenced to 4 months of jail

Advocate N.B. Deshmukh has been held guilty of criminal contempt of the Court and sentenced to four months of simple imprisonment for hurling abuses at the judge inside a courtroom..Advocate N.B. Deshmukh has been held guilty of criminal contempt of the Court and sentenced to four months of simple imprisonment for hurling abuses at the judge inside a courtroom..The NDTV reports that Deshmukh had in 2008 hurled abuses at the judge as his case had not been heard and was allegedly kept pending for a period of 15 long years. Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and A.P. Bhangale of the Bombay High Court stated that Advocate Deshmukh hurled abuses at the Court in an “unruly and rowdy fashion” and held him guilty..Contempt may be civil and criminal. Contempt under Section 2(c) of the Contempt of Courts Act of 1971 defines criminal contempt as the publication (whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise) of any matter or the doing of any other act whatsoever which (a) Scandalises or tends to scandalise, or lowers or tends to lower the authority of, any court, or (b) Prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with the due course of any judicial proceeding, or (c) Interferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs or tends to obstruct, the administration of justice in any other manner..Media reports also state that Deshmukh in his reply to the show-cause notice, admitted he had said, “Are we dogs? Don’t treat us like animals. Are we running water (sic) in our nerves and others blood? Are we going to get justice in this life or not? Only (actor) Salman Khan’s case gets quick disposal…before the single judge’s Court”..In defence, Deshmukh stated that his act was an earnest criticism of the judiciary. Deshmukh had twice previously, refused to give an unconditional apology to the Court..The Court said, “The said utterances, if read as a whole and in the context of his unruly behaviour, clearly tend to lower the authority, majesty and dignity of the Court. Holding that an advocate is a wheel of the chariot of justice, such behaviour of the advocate would not only result in undermining or lowering the authority of the Court but also tend to interfere with the due course of the judicial proceeding and obstruct the administration of justice”..Justice delayed is leading to professional misconduct by lawyers. Justice delayed is most certainly followed by justice being denied. A delay of 15 years in hearing a case led to Advocate Deshmukh breaking rules and crossing the line by abusing the Court. On the other hand, high-profile cases where actors (like Salman Khan) or business tycoons are a party get heard and are decided in a matter of months in Courts making the common man wait his turn for justice.