The Bar Council of India (BCI) has formally approached the Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, seeking the withdrawal of judicial work from Justice Tarlada Rajasekhar Rao of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. This development follows a widely circulated video showing a heated exchange between the judge and a legal practitioner during a recent hearing.
Background of the Incident
The confrontation took place during proceedings involving a writ petition. The petitioner had approached the High Court to challenge a Look Out Circular (LOC) and the impounding of his passport. During the session, the judge indicated his intention to postpone the matter to review a precedent set in a similar previous case.
The situation escalated when the judge expressed dissatisfaction with the advocate’s conduct. According to reports and the viral footage, the judge questioned the practitioner’s professional standing and suggested that the lawyer was acting with undue arrogance. In a rare move, the judge summoned the police and initially ordered that the advocate be taken into custody for a duration of twenty-four hours.
Courtroom Observations
The judge characterized the advocate’s behavior as indolent. To document the event, the court requested other legal professionals present in the room to provide their names to serve as witnesses to the conduct mentioned in the official record.
Despite the advocate expressing personal physical distress and repeatedly seeking leniency with folded hands, the court initially remained firm. The judge even remarked that the counsel could organize a protest with the local Bar association if he felt aggrieved by the directive.
Intervention and Update
The order for police custody was never officially signed or executed. Following an immediate intervention by the High Court Bar Association, the judge relented and cancelled the detention order. The substantive matter regarding the passport and LOC has been deferred and is scheduled for a hearing after the court’s summer recess.
Bar Council of India’s Response
The Bar Council of India has taken a stern view of the episode. In a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of India, BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra emphasized that such interactions create a hostile environment for practitioners, particularly younger members of the legal fraternity. The BCI argued that the judge’s actions could have a demoralizing effect on the Bar and requested that he be relieved of his judicial duties pending further review.
While the judge did not follow through with the arrest, the BCI maintains that the verbal treatment and the threat of incarceration itself constitute a breach of judicial decorum that warrants administrative intervention.
