Advocates Empowered to Act Against Harassment by Litigants Over Court Queries: Madras HC

The Madras High Court recently emphasized that advocates have the right to take appropriate legal action against litigants who harass them over queries posed by the court during a hearing.

The statement came after a lawyer representing a final year law student in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) informed the Court that he no longer wanted to represent the petitioner due to harassment he was facing from the petitioner.

The law student had filed a PIL seeking the State government’s direction to establish old age homes in every district of Tamil Nadu in accordance with the provisions of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act.

During the previous hearing on July 24, the petitioner’s counsel claimed that the State government had not established a single old age home. The Court recorded this statement and warned that it would impose a cost of ₹50,000 on the petitioner if the statement turned out to be incorrect.

The lawyer informed the Court that following the Court’s warning, the petitioner started harassing him, and thus, he sought permission to withdraw from the case.

The Court permitted the lawyer to do so and clarified that any query posed by the court during a hearing is just a query and not an order. The Court further asserted that any lawyer facing harassment from a litigant has the right to take necessary action against the litigant.

“The petitioner is also present here and seeks time to engage another lawyer. While we grant him time, this Court feels it necessary to reiterate that any queries posed by us are for the benefit of the litigants and queries do not indicate our order. Also, any advocate, who is harassed by a litigant following the court’s queries, or even otherwise, is entitled to take appropriate action against the litigant,” the bench stated.