Orissa HC Issues Notice To Bar Panel Chief For ‘Verbally Abusing’ Judge

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has initiated a criminal contempt proceeding and issued a show-cause notice to Tangi Bar Association president Nakula Kumar Nayak for allegedly verbally abusing judicial magistrate first class, Tangi, Siona Siddharth Moharana.

He has been asked as to why the charge for committing criminal contempt under Section-2(C) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, shall not be framed against him or why he shall not be prosecuted or tried for the said criminal contempt or why such other order/orders as deemed fit in the interest of justice shall not be passed.

The court made these observations on Tuesday while taking suo motu criminal contempt cognizance of the October 30 letter in which the judicial magistrate had accused Nayak of verbally abusing her in filthy language from outside her chambers for rejecting a bail petition on October 21.

The two-judge bench of S Talapatra and Justice S K Panigrahi said: “We are taken aback how a responsible office-bearer of the bar association could behave in the manner with a judicial magistrate, who was discharging her judicial duties.”