Yatin Oza moves SC to protect seniority

AHMEDABAD: The president of the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association, Yatin Oza, has approached the Supreme Court against the HC’s decision to withdraw his senior advocate designation because of his comments against the court, particularly for likening it with a gambling den.
Advocate Oza’s petition for stay on the HC decision is likely to come up for hearing before the apex court on Wednesday, said his advocate Purvish Malkan.The Bar president was stripped of the honour after a division bench referred the issue to the chief justice while initiating contempt of court proceedings against him for his comments made during a press conference on June 5.
Oza has moved the SC after the full court in the HC on July 18 rejected his unconditional apology and defence with observation, “Mr Oza should not be permitted to adopt the policy of ‘slap – say sorry & forget’.” The HC cited three previous occasions when advocate Oza had apologized when he was facing contempt of court. The judges, in an unanimous order, said, “Mr Oza has exploited as a President of Bar his designation as a Senior Advocate and has been playing Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde…is not worthy of his designation. He has caused extensive damage to the Institution. He is a man of volte face and is incorrigible…Oza does not have any heart. The apology is only a trick and this Court should not fall prey to the same. The apology should never be accepted.”
While the full court said that the lawyer’s apology was nothing but a “paper apology” and a calculated strategy to avoid problems, Oza has submitted before the SC that his apology should have been accepted. He has contended in his petition that he had voiced grievances against functioning of HC registry and he had not spoken against judges. His use of the term ‘gambling den’ was at fate of cases in registry and not intended to criticize the judicial side of the court.
Advocate Oza has requested the SC to reverse the HC decision saying that otherwise it would be an end to his 38-year-long career at the Bar. This is a measure disproportionate to his gesture, which is yet to be proved because the contempt proceeding has just begun. The HC’s decision to snatch away the designation may impact the contempt proceedings also, he has said.