Petitioner Abuses Chief Justice, Throws Papers In Supreme Court; Bench Shows Leniency

In a high drama witnessed inside the Supreme Court’s Courtroom 12, a litigant in person threw a bundle of legal papers at the judges and showered a volley of abuses at Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.

The unprecedented disruption was during a Friday morning sitting before a partial working-day bench of Justices K.V. Viswanathan and Alok Aradhe. The Bench, however, refused to be provoked and, in an extremely lenient approach, declined to initiate any criminal contempt or coercive proceedings against the man, maintaining its composure in the face of grave provocation.

"Mr Judicial Servant, I Order You...”

The confrontation started the moment the petitioner, who identified himself as Prabal Pratap, walked up to the podium. He was apparently challenging an order of the Allahabad High Court that had converted his formal police complaint application into a private complaint case.

Instead of arguing the legal merits of his case, Pratap took a very hostile approach, addressing the judges directly:

"Mr Judicial Servant, I command you to register an FIR against ACP Vikas Nagar, Lucknow, and Duplex Technology... for I am the sovereign.

*Are you giving me an order? asked Justice Viswanathan, taken aback by the combative opening. Are you ordering us?

"That's all from my side," Pratap said suddenly. It is all on record. * He then grabbed a large stack of papers from his file and threw them high in the air towards the judges, scattering papers across the courtroom floor, and shouted a stream of curse words.

A Quiet Rejection of Immediate Punishment

Supreme Court security personnel inside the courtroom rushed in, physically restraining and subduing Pratap and taking him out of the courtroom to restore order.

Normally, such a major disruption would immediately attract the gravest charge of criminal contempt of court, but the bench chose to be lenient. The judges did not penalise the litigant but took into account his apparent psychological distress, with Justice Viswanathan noting that the Court had only sympathies for the petitioner.

In its last written order the bench had observed:

[This Court] will not propose to take any action against the above-named petitioner in view of the condition of the above-named petitioner.

The court then examined the case file on merits and did not find any valid legal grounds for overturning the Allahabad High Court ruling. It then dismissed the special leave petition and proceeded to the next case on the daily list.