Survivor's counsel to initiate contempt of court proceedings against trial court judge, seeks CJ's consent

Kochi: Two days after Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court Judge made critical remarks against TB Mini, the counsel of the survivor in the actress assault case, has sought the consent of the High Court Chief Justice to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Judge Honey M Varghese. The proceedings will be initiated as per Section 2(c) of the Contempt of Court Act.

According to the complaint, all of the remarks, which were made publicly in the courtroom, violated decorum and were inaccurate and baseless.

The comments were made while considering a batch of contempt of court petitions related to the actress assault case on Monday.

Mini, who is the counsel of one of the petitioners in the case, did not turn up in the court on Monday. When the case was about to be heard, Mini's junior counsel stood to present it. The judge enquired about Mini and then went on to say that Mini was lax in conducting the case and was seldom present in the court during the trial.

Sources who were present in the court confirmed the judge's remarks.

Following the incident, Mini has expressed her disappointment over the remarks. "We had already submitted all the documents related to the case. The government pleader was supposed to present on Monday. I had to attend another case related to a co-operative society in Wayanad. There was no need for me to be present there for the case," said Mini.

According to sources, the judge also said that Mini would often come to the court and doze off during hearings.