The Allahabad High Court has imposed a cost of ₹25,000 on a Gram Pradhan for threatening a lawyer with false implications under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and for using derogatory language against the legal profession.
The issue came before the Court in the course of hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by the petitioner. During the proceedings, it was brought to the Court’s notice that respondent no. 6, identified as Jang Bahadur (Gram Pradhan), had engaged in a telephonic conversation with Mr. Waseem Akhtar, counsel for the petitioner, in which he used offensive language and allegedly threatened to falsely implicate him under the SC/ST Act.
The transcript of the conversation was presented to the Court under the authority of the learned Registrar General. After perusing the transcript, the Court found that the respondent not only made personally aggressive remarks against the lawyer but also spoke derogatorily about the legal profession. Justice J.J. Munir observed:
“Speaking in derogatory terms, about the legal profession, does not affect the profession alone but the entire Judicature of which the Bar is an integral part.”
The Court remarked that such conduct by a member of the public amounts to a very serious matter that borders on criminal contempt. The Bench noted:
“For a member of the public, a litigant on the other side, to abuse a learned Counsel over telephone is a very serious matter which certainly, in our opinion, borders on criminal contempt.”
While the Court initially considered referring the matter to the Criminal Contempt Bench, it refrained from doing so in view of the unconditional remorse expressed by the respondent in an affidavit. In paragraph 5 of his affidavit, the respondent assured the Court that he harboured no personal animosity toward the lawyer and would not engage in such conduct in the future.
Taking a lenient view, the Court imposed a fine of ₹25,000 on the respondent. Of this amount, ₹10,000 is to be paid to Mr. Waseem Akhtar, the lawyer targeted in the incident, and ₹15,000 is to be deposited in the account of the State Legal Services Authority. The Court directed that the payment must be made within 15 days, failing which the amount shall be recovered as arrears of land revenue through the District Magistrate, Prayagraj.
Further, the Court exempted the personal appearance of the respondent and directed that the mobile phone containing the conversation, which had been submitted in a sealed cover, be returned to the Registrar General, who would in turn hand it over to Mr. Akhtar.
The matter is now scheduled to be listed afresh on 9 July 2025.
The Court also ordered that a copy of the order be communicated to the District Magistrate, Prayagraj through the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Allahabad, as well as to the Registrar General on the same day.
Case Title: Bano Bibi vs State of U.P. and 4 Others
Case No.: Public Interest Litigation (PIL) No. 538 of 2025
