"We Disapprove The Proclivity": Supreme Court Expunges Adverse Remarks Made By Uttarakhand HC Against Advocate

The Supreme Court has expunged adverse remarks made by Uttarakhand High Court Judge, Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma, against an advocate in two separate orders from 2020 and 2021.

The Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Sandeep Mehta found the remarks to be unjustified and illegal, deeming them unnecessary given the circumstances.

Pertinently, in the orders dated December 1, 2020, and December 7, 2021, Justice Sharma had criticized the conduct of the Advocate Siddhartha Singh, who had appeared in court for a litigant and allegedly left the courtroom without informing the court that he needed to attend proceedings in other courts.

After reviewing the orders, the Court concluded that the conduct of the lawyer did not warrant the harsh observations made by Justice Sharma."We have gone through the orders dated 01-12-2020 & 07-12-2021 and have carefully examined the circumstances in which the observations were made by the learned Judge. Having considered the observations made by the Hon’ble Judge, we are of the opinion that neither the conduct, nor the circumstance warranted recording of the remarks. These remarks are unjustified and illegal," the Court observed.

The Court also noted with disapproval the judge’s tendency to make such adverse comments against lawyers, referencing a similar instance in the 2021 case Neeraj Garg v. State of Uttarakhand, where remarks made by the same judge were also expunged. "We disapprove the proclivity of the learned Judge of the High Court in making remarks against advocates for nothing so serious to take note of," the Bench remarked.

The Court ordered, "In view of the above, we set aside the two orders passed by the learned Judge on 01-12-2020 & 07-12-2021 to the extent that they relate to the conduct of the advocate and expunge the remarks made against the appellant. The civil appeals are allowed accordingly."

Cause Title: Siddhartha Singh v. Assistant Collector First Class Sub Divisional Magistrate and Others

Appearance:-

Petitioner: Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, Advocates Javedur Rahman (AOR), Vikas Bahuguna, Mudassir

Respondent: Advocates Namita Choudhary (AOR), Ashutosh Kumar Sharma, Srishti Choudhary, Shefali Choudhary,

Click here to read/download the Order