New Delhi, July 10 -- The Supreme Court on Friday witnessed tense scenes after a petitioner appearing in person disrupted proceedings by throwing case papers inside the courtroom and allegedly using abusive language against the Chief Justice of India during the hearing of his appeal. Security personnel escorted him out, while the bench chose not to initiate any action against him and later dismissed his plea on merits.

The incident took place before a bench of Justices K V Viswanathan and Alok Aradhe during the hearing of an appeal filed by Prabal Pratap. The petition challenged an Allahabad High Court order that had dismissed his plea against the conversion of his application under Section 173(4) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) into a private complaint.

At the start of the hearing, Pratap addressed the bench in an unusual manner, saying, "Mr judicial servant, I order you to order the registration of an FIR against ACP Vikas Nagar, Lucknow."

Taken aback by the remark, Justice Viswanathan asked, "You are ordering me? You are ordering us?" The petitioner then replied, "That is all from my side. Everything is on record."

Shortly afterwards, the petitioner flung his case papers inside the courtroom and allegedly shouted abusive remarks against Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who was not part of the bench hearing the matter. Security personnel intervened immediately and removed him from the courtroom, allowing the proceedings to continue.

In its order, the bench noted that the petitioner, instead of arguing his case, had made "incoherent and unparliamentary utterances". However, it took a lenient view, observing that, "considering the condition of the petitioner above named", it did not propose to take any action against him.

The court also found no reason to interfere with the Allahabad High Court's order, stating that after examining the records, it found "no good ground to interfere with the impugned judgment". The appeal was accordingly dismissed.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.