Conviction of GHCAA president: Supreme Court keeps in abeyance Gujarat HC order

The Supreme Court on Monday, May 11, 2026, set aside the Gujarat High Court’s order convicting Yatin Oza, president of the Gujarat High Court Lawyers Association, and punishing him until the trial for making scandalous statements against the State judiciary.

The Supreme Court also imposed a fine of ₹2,000 on Mr. Oza and said that in case of default, he would be sentenced to simple imprisonment for two months. Mr. Oza was elected as GHCAA president for the 19th time on December 20, 2025.

In the judgment delivered today, a bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar directed that the full bench of the Supreme Court shall periodically review the conduct of the appellant every two years in the light of the undertaking given by the appellant.

“The reasons given by the Supreme Court in the impugned decision do not require any intervention of this court.

“Nevertheless, by granting a final order of amnesty, we are inclined to exercise our power under Article 142 of the Constitution to indefinitely suspend/suspend the conviction and sentence of the appellant as a result of this decision,” the bench said. he said.

The top court said that Mr. Oza’s appeal against the Supreme Court’s decision in which he was convicted on October 6, 2020 was seized. However, the execution of the sentence was postponed for 60 days. The upper court then continued the suspension of the sentences imposed by the Supreme Court.

The full court of the high court subsequently ordered the stripping of Mr. Oza’s title of “Senior Advocate” following a new incident of alleged misconduct in April 2024.

The latest decision followed what was described as the “sixth incident” in decades of friction between Mr. Oza and the judiciary, according to the documents.

At a writ hearing on April 9, 2024, Mr. Oza allegedly accused the presiding judge of “forum shopping.”

After reviewing the video clip of the proceedings, the full court noted that Mr. Oza appeared in court on behalf of the defendant without a briefing attorney or a formal hearing.

In the court’s decision dated April 15, 2024, it was stated that Mr. Oza’s behavior was “unbecoming of a senior lawyer” and that his words were intended to “intimidate the court”. In 2020, Mr. Oza, in a press conference, called the Gujarat High Court a “lair of gamblers”.

The high court had previously annulled Mr. Oza’s senior appointment in July 2020. However, in October 2021, the Supreme Court exercised its authority under Article 142 of the Constitution to return Mr. Oza’s dress for a two-year trial period from January 1, 2022, describing it as his “one more and last chance.”