Gujarat High Court seizes mobile of Congress councillor for using 'camera' in courtroom

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday seized the mobile phone of Congress councillor from Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) Ankit Barot, albeit for a few hours, after a lawyer appearing for his rival BJP candidate complained that he was on a video call inside the courtroom, which amounts to contempt of court.

The court immediately seized the mobile and sent it to the high court's computer centre to ascertain if Barot had taken any photographs or made a video inside the courtroom. However, the handset was returned to Barot after the computer centre clarified that he had not taken videos or photographs inside the courtroom.

Barot was allegedly abducted by BJP's mayoral candidate's husband on November 5, 2018 — the day of GMC election. The position of the mayor and deputy mayor was let off only after proceedings of the election got over. This led to multiple litigations in the high court as a result of which, the election results are yet to be declared and is lying with the high court in a sealed envelope.

Barot said that he was standing in the courtroom to seek adjournment of his case as his lawyer was not present. "I was standing in the courtroom to seek adjournment of my case. However, suddenly, CB Upadhyaya, counsel for BJP's mayoral candidate Rita Patel, alleged that I was using my camera in the courtroom. My phone was taken and sent to the computer centre. They checked it for almost an hour and found nothing. Eventually, my phone was returned," he said.

Meanwhile, Upadhyaya said that Barot was on a video call in the courtroom, against which he complained to the court as it was a case of contempt.