A division bench of Gujarat High Court on Tuesday held Advocate Yatin Oza guilty of contempt of court in a suo motu contempt proceedings initiated by the High Court against him.
A bench comprising Justice Sonia Gokani and Justice N.V. Anjaria pronounced the verdict in the criminal contempt case suo moto initiated by the High Court while posting the matter for Wednesday to pronounce sentence.
Earlier in June this year, the court had initiated the contempt proceedings after Mr. Oza, the President of the Gujarat High Court Advocates Associations, had made public allegations of maladministration of justice within the HC.
Subsequently, the HC had also revoked the senior designation as Senior Counsel given to Mr. Oza recalling the Full Court decision of 1999 designating him as a Senior Advocate in the High Court.
While holding the advocate guilty of criminal contempt of the court, the bench noted that Mr. Oza had targeted the HC Registry and had questioned the very credibility of High Court Administration while raising unverified facts on frivolous grounds.
After the HC initiated the contempt proceedings, Mr Oza had approached the Supreme Court, which refused to entertain his plea and directed him to approach the High Court.
He had submitted in the SC that he was offering "unconditional apology" for his remarks against the HC. He also offered unconditional apology to the HC.
