New Delhi: High drama unfolded in the Supreme Court on Friday when a litigant appearing in person was forcibly removed from the courtroom after verbally abusing the judges, throwing his case files into the air, and attempting to dictate orders to the bench. The disruption occurred during a scheduled hearing before a dual-judge bench comprising Justice KV Viswanathan and Justice Alok Aradhe.
The petitioner-in-person, identified as Prabal Pratap, had approached the apex court to challenge an Allahabad High Court verdict from April 2026. The underlying matter involved a legal challenge against a lower court’s decision to treat his application under Section 173(4) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita as a private complaint rather than directing the police to log a First Information Report. Clad in a black coat, Pratap adopted a highly confrontational posture right from the inception of the hearing, introducing himself as “the sovereign” and openly addressing the judges as “judicial servants.”
Tensions escalated rapidly when Pratap explicitly told the bench that he was ordering them to mandate the registration of an FIR against the Assistant Commissioner of Police for Vikas Nagar in Lucknow, as well as a private tech entity. Taken aback by the aggressive rhetoric, Justice Viswanathan questioned if the litigant was attempting to order the court. The petitioner abruptly stated that he had put everything on record before throwing a bundle of case documents across the courtroom, letting the papers scatter while shouting explicit cuss words directed at Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. Supreme Court security personnel immediately intervened, overpowering the unruly litigant and escorting him out of the room.
Despite the intense courtroom chaos, the bench chose to evaluate the Special Leave Petition purely on its legal merits. In its formal order, the court dismissed the petition, stating that there were no valid grounds to interfere with the impugned judgment of the high court. Displaying judicial magnanimity, the bench explicitly declined to initiate contempt of court or coercive proceedings against Pratap, with Justice Viswanathan observing that the petitioner appeared deeply disturbed and that the court held nothing but sympathy for his condition.
The incident mirrors a similar breach of decorum that occurred on October 6, 2025, when an elderly advocate, Rakesh Kishore, attempted to hurl a shoe at then-CJI BR Gavai during active proceedings over an alleged religious grievance. While the regulatory bodies took swift punitive action against Kishore by suspending his legal licence and terminating his bar membership, Justice Gavai had similarly chosen not to initiate personal contempt proceedings against the errant lawyer.
