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Neeraj Garg v. Sarita Rani

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 370Decided 2 Aug 2021
Civil Appeal Nos. 4555-4559 of 2021
Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman · Justice Hrishikesh Roy

Background

The appellant, a practicing lawyer of about 17 years' standing at the Uttarakhand High Court, approached the Supreme Court seeking expunction of disparaging remarks made against him personally by a High Court judge across four separate cases in which he had appeared as counsel. The remarks accused him of deliberately misleading the court, wasting judicial time, and following improper litigation tactics. The appellant was not seeking any relief against the actual parties in those cases (who were treated as proforma respondents), only the removal of the adverse personal comments.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court, assisted by an amicus curiae, reviewed the specific remarks and applied the well-established test from State of U.P. vs Mohammad Naim and later precedents: whether the person criticised had an opportunity to defend himself, whether there was evidence justifying the remarks, and whether the remarks were necessary for deciding the case. The Court found that the comments were unnecessary for the actual adjudication of the underlying disputes, appeared to reflect the judge's personal perception, and were made without giving the appellant any opportunity to respond, violating the principle of audi alteram partem (the right to be heard). Holding that such remarks could unfairly damage the appellant's professional reputation for life, the Court ordered the offending remarks expunged from the High Court's judgments and disposed of the appeals.

Lesson Learnt

A judge's adverse personal remarks about a lawyer's (or any individual's) conduct, made in a judgment, can be ordered deleted by a higher court if they were not essential to deciding the case and the affected person was never given a chance to explain or defend themselves.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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