During the hearing, a move by lawyer turned difficult when he brought his paralyzed client to the court in a wheelchair. On Wednesday, the apex court objected to the move and linked it to garnering 'sympathy'. Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Sanjay Kumar said that the matter could have been heard on the basis of the information given by the lawyer.

The apex court was hearing the IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company Ltd vs Rahul Kumar case. At present, the matter has been placed before the Chief Justice of India by the Bench for reallocation. Actually, this case is related to compensation and outstanding liabilities on the insurance company.

During the hearing, when the counsel told that the concerned claimant was present in the court for the hearing, the bench objected to it. The bench also observed that the presence of the respondent in the court was being used "to gain undue sympathy". The court had issued notice in this matter in November 2019 itself and stayed the enhanced compensation.

The Court passed the order that, "On the matter being taken up today, learned counsel for the respondent no.1 has submitted that the said respondent, said to be paralyzed, is before the Court to attend the hearing. We are at loss to find any reason that the said claimantrespondent has been advised to attend the hearing in this Court, particularly when he is said to be otherwise not in a proper physical condition. This Court has never asked or expected him to appear for the purpose of hearing, which could have proceeded with the learned counsel for the respective parties making their respective submissions."

Angry with the behaviour of the advocate, the bench recused itself from hearing the matter and passed the order, "The matter be placed before Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India for assignment to another Bench."

Case details:-

SLP(C) No. 11554/2019
IFFCO TOKIO GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.
Versus    
RAHUL KUMAR AND ANR.

Click here to read/download the order