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Man gets 3-month SI for foul language against magistrate

Madurai: The Madras High Court bench here has sentenced a man to three months of simple imprisonment for using foul language against a judicial magistrate in a representation and casting aspersions on a sessions judge.

Justices P N Prakash and B Pugalendi, on their own, directed that the man be taken into custody and lodged in the nearest central prison for serving the sentence, and disposed of his petition.

The judges said the court would not take such assaults on its staff lying down.

They opined that using foul language against a judicial officer would not only demoralise him, but indubitably interfere with the due course of justice by instilling fear in his mind.

"Once the emotion of fear afflicts a judicial officer, he will not be able to discharge the responsibility of administering justice. "Honour is the bedrock of human life and if that is unjustly annihilated, what remains is only a living corpse," the judges said.

If a disgruntled litigant was allowed to go scot-free even after addressing a judicial officer in such language, the latter would not be able to command respect in his court from litigants and other stakeholders, they added.

All this would hamper the administration of justice, the court said.

The judges referred to the petitioner's attitude of not even feeling remorse about his comments on the lower court judges and said the high court had a solemn duty to protect and safeguard the judicial officers of the subordinate judiciary against such "brazen attacks" by disgruntled litigants.

"Our judicial set-up is akin to a Hindu undivided joint family, where the 'kartha' is the Supreme Court, the eldest brother is the high court and the younger siblings are the courts subordinate to the high court," they said.

A clear message should go to one and all that the eldest brother would brook no such vituperative insult to his younger siblings and that the high court would feel the pain of the hurt suffered by them, the judges said.

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