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Synopsis

The Bombay High Court has recently issued a show cause notice to a mother who messaged the judge on SMS and WhatsApp in a child custody matter. However, the bench later accepted the apology of the mother.

A single-judge bench of the high court comprising Justice MM Sathaye was hearing an appeal in a child custody matter in which the interim application to stay the order was rejected. The order was passed after hearing both the parties.

After the order was passed on Friday, on the next date i.e. 30.11.2024 (Saturday) at 7.05 am, Justice Sathaye received a WhatsApp message on his mobile number, from an unknown number. After he blocked the said number he received a series of WhatsApp messages and videos from another number, clearly indicating that the sender of the messages was present in the court when the order was passed on Friday.

On Monday, the mother who was personally present in court admitted that she had sent those messages to me.

The bench in its order said “In my prima facie view, clearly an attempt has been made by the Appellant to over-reach the law to interfere with the administration of Justice and to try to influence the mind of the Judge and this conduct is bordering on the contempt of the Court. This can not be taken lightly. Considering the nature of the impugned order and the relationship between the parties and that the custody of a child was involved, this may be a case of desperate attempt by a mother. However, it is done in a completely inappropriate way,” the order states.

Therefore, the bench proceeded to issue a show cause notice to the mother why appropriate action as provided under law, should not be initiated against her for such conduct.

The bench discharged the show cause notice after perusing the affidavit filed by the mother which stated that “..that she was emotionally stressed out and felt helpless at the relevant time and therefore, out of anxiety and desperation for her child, whose custody is in question, an attempt was made to reach out to the Court (M.M. Sathaye, J) directly on whatsApp mobile number,” the order states.

Case title: Vaishnavi Caim Sambuddha vs Alok Nath Sambuddha