Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court has barred a litigant from appearing in person before any court in the state after finding that his request for a judge’s recusal was an attempt at bench hunting and forum shopping.
His half-dozen petitions were assigned to Justice M K Thakker for hearing, a month after another judge, Justice Mengdey, said ‘Not before me’ to his litigation and recused himself. After hearing Mishra’s request, HC said that dissatisfaction with interim orders or courtroom conduct cannot be used to seek recusal. HC said that Mishra’s apprehension of bias was neither founded upon any real, reasonable or objective basis nor sufficient to warrant recusal of the court from the case assigned by the Chief Justice. It further said, “The allegations levelled against the court, the manner in which the judicial orders have been questioned, and the attempt to seek recusal on the basis of dissatisfaction with the orders and conduct of the proceedings, cannot be permitted to undermine the independence, dignity and authority of the judicial institution. Court then ordered, “Having regard to the conduct of the present applicant and the circumstances noticed hereinabove, the present applicant shall stand debarred from appearing in person before any court of law in the state of Gujarat. ” HC directed this order to be circulated among all subordinate courts.
Mishra requested Justice Thakker to recuse herself from his matters and expressed apprehension that the judge was biased against him. He cited orders passed by the judge in other matters involving him and alleged that his submissions were misrecorded or omitted, and that he was given less time to argue than opposing counsel. It observed, “The conduct of the applicant, as reflected from the record, also raises a serious concern with regard to an attempt at forum shopping and bench hunting. The judicial process cannot be permitted to be employed as a means to seek a particular bench or to secure a hearing before a bench perceived to be favourable to the litigant. A litigant cannot, by raising allegations of perceived bias, seek to dictate the constitution of the bench or compel a Judge to withdraw from a matter entrusted to the court. The order recorded that the application contained expressions and allegations casting aspersions on the court’s impartiality and functioning, and treated the conduct as a serious institutional concern.
The case involved Abhishek Kumar Mishra, who appeared as a party-in-person before the court. the court highlighted that he had earlier given an undertaking to maintain decorum when obtaining a competency certificate to appear in person While rejecting Mishra’s request for recusal.