The Bombay High Court, presided over by Justice M.M. Sathaye, dealt with an unusual situation involving the appellant mother, who attempted to directly contact the judge(Justice M.M. Sathaye) through WhatsApp. This occurred after the Court, on November 29, 2024, refused to stay the district court's order granting custody of the six-year-old child to the respondent father.

The appellant had appealed against this order, seeking a stay on its implementation, which the High Court refused on November 29, 2024.

Following this, the appellant sent a WhatsApp message to Justice Sathaye’s private number on November 30, 2024, at 7:05 a.m., which was immediately blocked. Despite this, additional messages and videos were sent from another number at 7:41 a.m. The Court, upon discovering that the appellant was the sender, remarked in its order dated December 2, 2024, that this conduct amounted to an attempt to interfere with the administration of justice and to influence the judge outside the legal framework. The Court stated, “In my prima facie view, clearly an attempt has been made by the Appellant to overreach 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.” The judge directed the appellant to file an affidavit explaining her actions and issued a show-cause notice as to why legal proceedings should not be initiated against her.

The appellant’s original advocate, Mr. Sunil S. Gosavi, strongly condemned her actions and sought discharge from representing her, which the Court allowed. Subsequently, the appellant engaged a new advocate, who filed an affidavit of apology on her behalf. The affidavit, dated December 12, 2024, acknowledged her actions and expressed an unconditional apology, stating 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.”

Taking the affidavit into consideration, the Court accepted her apology in its order dated December 19, 2024, and discharged the show-cause notice. However, the Court expressly cautioned the appellant against attempting to contact judges directly in the future. The final order noted, “The Appellant is directed not to indulge in such attempt/activity to reach out directly to any Judge, in future.”

This order concluded the matter regarding the appellant’s conduct, while the custody appeal itself remained pending adjudication.

Case Details: Vaishnavi Caim Sambuddha v Alok Nath Sambuddha Order dt.19th December 2024

Vaishnavi Caim Sambuddha v Alok Nath Sambuddha Order dt. 2nd December 2024