Man attends virtual hearing at Gujarat High Court from toilet; video goes viral   

A video showing a man attending a virtual hearing at the Gujarat High Court from a toilet seat went viral on Friday.

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The incident occurred on June 20 when Justice Nirzar S Desai was hearing a case.

A man wearing a yellow t-shirt logged in using a mobile phone, with the name on the screen identifying him as ‘Samad Battery’.

Shockingly, the video shows that he had been sitting on a toilet seat while he attended the proceedings through video link.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Gujarat High Court has allowed both lawyers and litigants to join through the virtual mode, and the proceedings of each hearing are broadcast live via the court's YouTube channel.

The one-minute video showed that the man had kept the mobile phone on the floor of the toilet with the camera facing him.

After finishing his business in the toilet, he picked up the phone and left. Justice Desai apparently did not notice his actions or the surroundings.

The same person, wearing wireless earphones, can be seen logging in again later in the livestream, sitting in a room and waiting for his turn.

After nearly 10 minutes, Justice Desai asked his name and he identified himself as Abdul Samad, a resident of Kim village of Surat and the complainant in a case of assault.

His lawyers informed the court that Samad had recently lodged a complaint of assault against two persons in Kim, but both the parties have arrived at a compromise.

Hearing the petition filed by the two accused seeking to quash the First Information Report, Justice Desai asked Samad if he consented to it. He told the court he had no objection, following which Justice Desai granted the accused's plea.