The Gujarat High Court has ordered a man to pay Rs 1 lakh for attending an online court hearing while sitting on a toilet. He has been asked to deposit the amount in the court registry by July 22. This happened on June 20 when Justice Nirzar S Desai was hearing a case. A video of the man went viral, after which the court started a contempt case against him.

The man, named Samad Abdul Rehman Shah, admitted his mistake and said he was ready to give an unconditional apology. The court noted that he had accepted his actions and was willing to apologize, so it directed him to deposit Rs 1 lakh before the next hearing. According to the report, Shah attended the hearing for 74 minutes and was seen sitting on a toilet and relieving himself during that time.Shah’s lawyer told the court that Shah was ready to give a full apology for his actions.

When asked, the lawyer said he had already advised Shah to attend the hearing properly and behave appropriately. The video, which went viral, showed Shah using the toilet during the online hearing. This caused a lot of anger, and the court ordered the video to be removed quickly, saying it damaged the court’s reputation.

Since COVID-19, the Gujarat High Court has allowed people to join hearings online, and these are shown live on YouTube. In the video, Shah was seen finishing his business on the toilet, picking up his phone, and leaving. At that time, Justice Desai did not realize what was happening. Later, Shah joined the hearing again, wearing wireless earphones, and was seen sitting in a room waiting for his turn.

After about 10 minutes, he introduced himself as Abdul Samad Shah from Kim village in Surat. He was the person who had filed a complaint in an assault case. Shah’s lawyers told the court that there had been a fight earlier, but now both sides had reached a compromise. When the judge asked Shah if he agreed to close the case, Shah said he had no objection. So, the judge allowed the request and closed the case.