On 28-09-2026, a Single Judge Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising of Justice Om Prakash Shukla imposed a fine of Rs. 1 lakh on an advocate who appeared in a virtual hearing from a moving car.
The counsel for the decree holder appeared in the present matter from a moving car on which, the Court stated that even though the convenience offered by virtual hearings is appreciated, such convenience cannot come at the cost of the Court’s decorum or cause disturbance in the conduct of judicial proceedings. It was said that “when this Court has to deal with more than 70 matters in a day, background noise and movement during the hearing are disruptive for this Court to proceed.”
The Court stated that even the Electronic Evidence and Video Conferencing Rules, 2025 of the Court provide that an endeavour must be made by advocates not to join proceedings from vehicles except in exceptional circumstances and with the Court’s permission. It was said that there was no such exceptional circumstance in the present matter and that the counsel’s conduct was violative of the said Rules. Hence, the Court imposed a cost of Rs. 1 lakh upon the counsel for the decree holder, payable to the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee within a week.
On facts of the listed case, the Court found it apparent that the stamp duty on the arbitral award dated 13-11-2024 sought to be enforced was paid on 24-12-2025, which was beyond a month from the date of the execution of the said award. To this, another counsel appearing for the decree holder submitted that he had already deposited the stamp duty along with penalty before the collector and that he would deposit proof for the same within a week. Thus, the matter was listed on 15-10-2026.
