Gujarat High Court judge ‘ticked’ off by litigant’s WhatsApp message

The Gujarat High Court’s Justice RH Shukla has reprimanded Commissioner of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation Vinod Rao for sending him a WhatsApp message during the pendency of a litigation in which the latter was a party..The matter relates to a petition filed in the High Court challenging the proposed demolition of a commercial complex in Vadodara. The Court had stayed the demolition back in January this year, and has been hearing the case since..On August 22, Rao had drawn the ire of Justice Shukla by sending him a WhatsApp message regarding the case. The judge made a special note of the Commissioner’s brain fade in his order dated August 28, and had directed the personal presence of Rao on the next date of hearing, failing which he would be “constrained to pass an appropriate order” against him..When the matter came up for hearing yesterday, the judge was reported to have said to Rao,.“Don’t you know your jurisdiction? How dare you send a direct WhatsApp message to a judge? Being a government officer, stop behaving like dictator. If you don’t understand your duty, the court can initiate legal action against you.”.Maulik Nanavati, appearing for Rao, submitted to the Court that his client was willing to file an unconditional apology, along with an undertaking not to repeat his actions in the future..At this juncture, opposing counsel and Senior Advocate Mihir Thakore expressed his reservations regarding the incident, and asked that the content of the text message sent by Rao be placed on record along with the affidavit..The Court ceded to this request and directed Rao to appear personally on Monday with the said affidavit, which must also contain an averment that he has not circulated the message to anybody else..Read the order dated September 7:.Read the order dated August 28: