Supreme Court Dismisses Petition After Litigant's Abusive Outburst

The Supreme Court of India dismissed a special leave petition on Friday after a petitioner, Prabal Pratap, disrupted proceedings through an aggressive outburst. Pratap, who was challenging an Allahabad High Court order regarding police inaction in a cybercrime complaint, addressed the bench of Justices K. V. Viswanathan and Alok Aradhe as "judicial servants" and claimed he was "sovereign."

During the hearing, Pratap attempted to order the justices to register an FIR against an ACP of Vikas Nagar, Lucknow, and alleged the existence of a nationwide cybercrime syndicate. The situation escalated as Pratap used expletive language and flung legal papers into the air, shouting for them to be given to the Chief Justice of India. Security personnel eventually forcibly removed the petitioner from the courtroom.

Despite the "incoherent and unparliamentary utterances," the bench decided not to initiate disciplinary action against Pratap. Justice Viswanathan noted that the petitioner appeared "very disturbed" and was acting out of "frustration," stating that the court had sympathies for him. The court ultimately found no grounds to interfere with the impugned order and dismissed the petition on its merits.