A senior judge of the Gujarat High Court on Wednesday apologised for shouting at a puisne judge during the proceedings in open court on Monday.
Justice Biren Vaishnav, the senior judge on the bench hearing a case on Monday, had shown his strong displeasure to puisne judge Justice Mauna Bhatt after she registered her disagreement to the verdict by murmuring in the senior judge’s ears.
Justice Vaishnav shouted at Justice Bhatt and left the hearing midway.
As soon as the Bench assembled on Wednesday, Justice Vaishnav apologised to the lawyers present in the courtroom and also to Justice Bhatt.
Stating that what happened on Monday should not have happened, Justice Vishnav said that he was wrong. He further said that he was sorry for the incident and that it shouldn’t have happened.
The High Court Bench then proceeded with its usual hearing.
On October 23, Justice Vaishnav had passed an order in a matter. Justice Bhatt, who was also part of the Bench, did not seem to agree with Justice Vaishnav and whispered something in his ear.
Justice Vaishnav, recalling that Justice Bhatt had differed in another matter also, said she was doing the same here.
Justice Bhatt said that it was not a matter of differing. However, Justice Vaishnav told her to pass a separate order and not to murmur.
The senior judge then rose and left the courtroom.
A video clip of the Monday proceedings had gone viral on social media. Following the incident, the YouTube links for the hearing on Wednesday showed that the two judges would be sitting in different combinations.
However, when the benches eventually assembled on Wednesday, both the judges sat together.
Justice Vaishnav today apologised to both Justice Bhatt and the Advocates present in the courtroom and went on with the proceedings.