Lawyers, although free to choose their clients, should avoid representing close family members to prevent emotional involvement, the Allahabad High Court (HC) observed recently, while hearing a case of criminal contempt initiated by a Family Court.
The case involved a son-lawyer and his father-litigant facing contempt notices for disrupting court proceedings in Aligarh’s Family Court.
The HC bench comprising Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Rajendra Kumar criticised this situation, where a son represented his father in a matrimonial case involving the lawyer’s mother, calling it “catastrophic”. It emphasised that lawyers should inherently know not to appear for their blood relatives.
“It cannot be for Courts to advise lawyers to choose their clients. It has always been left to the wisdom of the learned members of the bar. The basic learning that any member of the bar imbibes at the initial years of practice tell him to not appear for his blood relatives,” the division bench said.
The Court held that as the lawyer not only took up the matter of his father, but that too against his mother thereby, by his act, he became a party to the dispute itself.
While the contemnors’ apology seemed insincere, the HC decided to close the contempt proceedings promptly to avoid wasting time for genuine litigants. “We also make it clear that we have refused to exercise our jurisdiction and have not absolved either Subhash Kumar and Shubham Kumar of their conduct. It is only on account of wastage of time that we seek to prevent, we choose not to give them any further audience. They are thoroughly undeserving of that. Thus consigned,” said the bench.
THE CASE
The case stemmed from a written complaint to initiate contempt proceedings against Subhash Kumar and his lawyer son, Shubham Kumar. Subhash had allegedly misbehaved with the judge of Family Court No. 1 while she was hearing an unrelated case. Despite warnings, Subhash continued to disrupt the court, leading to contempt proceedings. Shubham also disrupted court proceedings, threatening to lodge a complaint against the Presiding Officer. He had also shouted in loud voice that he was a practitioner of the Allahabad High Court and that he knew how to deal with petty courts.
During the high court proceedings, the contemnors submitted that they had the utmost respect for the institution and had not committed any contemptuous acts consciously. However, the court found evidence to the contrary in Shubham’s actions and the judge’s recorded order sheet.
The HC stressed the need for dignified court proceedings without undue disruptions and emphasized that grievances should be addressed through appropriate channels and at the right time.
The HC also acknowledged the unblemished record of the Family Court judge, who had made every effort to maintain decorum in court proceedings and also ordered the copy of the order to be communicated to the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh for its due consideration and appropriate counseling to Shubham Kumar.
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