Gujarat HC fines two persons for calling judge to influence case

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Friday imposed fine of Rs 1 lakh on each of two persons from Petlad – Vijay Shah and Alpesh Patel – for committing contempt of the court as they tried to influence judicial proceedings on an anticipatory bail by making a call to Justice Bela Trivedi in the name of Congress MLA Niranjan Patel in June 2020.
A bench of Chief Justice Sonia Gokani and Justice N V Anjaria refused to accept the apology by Shah and Patel and said, “The nature of contempt seems to be maligning the judicial administration and having a larger impact. We are not inclined to accept the apology so as to ensure that such elements are not emboldened in future. Awarding a mere fine will not suffice.” The bench punished both the accused to sit in courtrooms till 5 pm. While one accused was present in the HC, the other joined the proceeding through video conference from Anand. The Anand district legal service authority was ordered to ensure that the accused remain in court till the court rises in the evening. The fine to be paid by them within a week is ordered to be used for the welfare of prisoners’ families.
One of the condemners. Shah had filed an anticipatory bail plea in the HC. On the day of hearing, Justice Trivedi, who is now a Supreme Court judge, received a call in the morning in the name of Petlad MLA, Niranjan Patel asking her to reject the anticipatory bail. When the judge inquired with Shah’s lawyers, they too told the HC that the MLA was interested in getting Shah arrested. This led the court to order a police inquiry.
The Inquiry revealed that Shah made Alpesh Patel to call the judge as a ploy to get favourable order thinking that if a Congress MLA asked the judge to reject the case, the judge would act otherwise and grant him anticipatory bail. Justice Trivedi termed this conduct “highly deplorable and unpardonable” and said further, “The applicant has been trapped in his own net laid for trapping others.” The court also said that it was a “well designed but ill-motivated mission” to get anticipatory bail.