Checking for ringtones during court proceedings landed a bench clerk in soup. Though courts have been registering offences in such cases, it’s for the first time that a case has been registered against a court official.
The matter will be taken up in the same court on Tuesday. A non-cognisable offence has been registered against clerk Hasmukh Patel under Section 116 of the Bombay Police Act for interruption/ disturbance caused during court proceedings.
According to the complaint filed by constable Surendrasinh Bhalsinh, an important case was being discussed in the metropolitan court of Rasheeda Vohra on February 14, when Patel’s cellphone rang, disturbing all. Patel was surfing through his ringtones, said an eye-witness.
When reproved and asked to pay the fine as per the provision of the Act, the clerk reportedly misbehaved with the magistrate.
Several non-cognisable offences have been registered against mobile users by various courts. Recently, a complainant in one of the cases was asked to pay Rs 900 as fine after his phone started ringing in court. Twenty-four courts have registered 50-odd such cases in the past six months.
Experts believe mobile phones are becoming a nuisance in courts and should be banned. ‘‘It’s very irritating. I was hearing 27 witnesses recently, when a mobile phone rang. I lost my concentration. If we won’t impose fines, people will make the same mistake over and over again,’’ said another magistrate.
Public Prosecutor K V Upadhyay agrees. ‘‘Whenever we are in the middle of some important discussion, the phone rings, breaking our concentration,’’ he says, adding: ‘‘Allowing mobile phones inside courtrooms can be dangerous, too. Nowadays, cellphones are equipped with sound and video recording facilities. If important discussions in riot cases are recorded and leaked out, it can put the witness in danger.’’
Officials should understand that use of cellular phones in court amounts to its disrespect, says public prosecutor B G Chaudhary.
The City Civil Court in Bhadra is also grappling with the same problem. Public prosecutor Minesh Vaghela says, ‘‘Mobile phones should be banned inside courtrooms. It amounts to contempt of the court.’’