Man's semi-naked bathing during court hearing video gets K'tka HC's notice

Bengaluru: A man appeared semi-naked in a video in Karnataka High Court during the hybrid court hearing of the sex-for-jobs case in which former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi has been named The News Minute (TNM) reported.

The incident occurred on Tuesday before a bench headed by Chief Justice Rituraj Awasthi. The court issued a notice to the man who appeared in the video after senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the survivor of the case, raised the issue.

The semi-naked man was visible and found bathing, Jaising said. She complained that she was exposed to the scene for 20 minutes and the act seemed intentional. She tweeted that she was going to lodge an official complaint listing contempt of court and sexual harassment as it was extremely disturbing in the middle of a court proceeding.

An advocate who was part of the court proceeding told TNM that the naked man's name was shown as Sreedhar Bhat on Zoom, and he logged out only after an officer of the court called him. Another source told TNM that the man was not a party in the case but was "known to the court in connection with a different manner".

Since court proceedings have shifted to virtual mode, many issues of decorum have come up in various courts across the country.