Senior Odisha official fined Rs 2000 after mobile rings inside court

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Cuttack, Apr 10:

Additional Secretary of Odisha Higher Education Department Mukund Kishan was fined Rs 2000 yesterday by the High Court for not switching off his phone while the hearing on a case was on.

Kishan was in the court of Justice BR Sarangi to present his side as per a notice served on him by the court earlier.  His phone rang while the hearing was on.

As per the court rules, phones are supposed to be switched off while hearing is on.

Irked by the violation of rules by a senior officer, Justice Sarangi ordered the seizure of his phone and asked him to pay a fine of Rs 10,000.

However, later the judge reduced the fine to Rs 2000 after Kishan admitted to the mistake and apologized to the court.

He had to submit the fine to the secretary of bar association and produced the receipt at the court as directed by the judge before he got his phone back.