Ranchi — What began as a routine hearing in a modest courtroom at the Jharkhand High Court spiraled into an unprecedented showdown that has now drawn the full attention of the judiciary.
In Courtroom No. 24, before Justice Rajesh Kumar, a simmering tension between the bench and the bar erupted — live, on camera — exposing the fragile fault lines of India’s courtroom decorum.
The Flashpoint
It was an ordinary Thursday morning when Justice Rajesh Kumar’s single-judge bench took up the case of Pushpa Kumari, a widow who claimed her electricity connection had been unfairly cut and that she was being asked to pay over ₹1.30 lakh.
After a short hearing, the judge directed her to deposit ₹50,000 for reconnection.
But what followed stunned everyone present — and soon, the nation.
Her lawyer, Mahesh Tiwari, a veteran advocate of four decades, rose to his feet, visibly agitated. In a moment now captured across countless screens, he declared in open court:
I will argue in my own way, not the way you are saying… Please note, do not try to insult any lawyer.
I am telling you, sir: please don’t attempt to humiliate anyone. The country is burning… with the judiciary. These are my words. I will argue in my way. Don’t overstep. I have been practicing for 40 years.”
The courtroom fell silent — except for the echo of those words reverberating through the livestream.
The Judicial Response
By the next day, the video had gone viral. The Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court, Tarlok Singh Chauhan, visibly disturbed by what he termed a “grave breach of discipline,” took suo motu cognizance of the matter.
A five-judge bench — comprising Justice Chauhan, Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad, Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay, Justice Anand Sen, and Justice Rajesh Shankar — was convened to hear the case titled “Court on its own motion vs Mahesh Tiwari.”
A charge of criminal contempt was registered, and the matter has been scheduled for hearing on 11 November.
The Larger Picture
While courtroom spats are not unheard of, this episode has reignited debate over a deeper issue — the growing friction between the bench and the bar. In an era of live-streamed proceedings, every exchange is amplified, every raised voice magnified.
Many lawyers argue that judges are becoming increasingly intolerant of strong advocacy, while judges insist that respect for judicial authority is non-negotiable.
The truth, perhaps, lies somewhere in between — a relationship frayed by ego, frustration, and the pressures of an overburdened justice system.
Legal experts say that this incident serves as a warning: when passion crosses into defiance, and when the sanctity of the courtroom gives way to confrontation, the very foundation of justice is at stake.
The Unanswered Question
As the High Court readies to decide Mahesh Tiwari’s fate, one question looms large — has India’s courtroom culture reached a boiling point?
In the age of public scrutiny and viral outrage, the thin line between assertion and insubordination may be harder than ever to draw.
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