The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday pulled up lawyers for repeatedly relying on mobile phones during live hearings to search information, often through Google or AI platforms. Justice Sanjay Vashisth expressed clear displeasure after witnessing counsel scrolling their phones in the middle of courtroom exchanges.
The case in question, RXXXXXX v. State of Haryana (CRM-M-31392-2025), was being argued when the judge noticed the advocate using his phone to fetch answers to queries posed by the bench. This, the court said, was not the way arguments should be prepared.
"Such information," the bench observed, "ought to have been collected in advance while preparing the case for arguments."
This is not the first such incident. Only last month, in another matter (Ravneet Singh Sandhu @ Manveer Singh v. UT of Chandigarh), the court had gone so far as to seize a mobile phone after similar conduct was noticed. The matter was then flagged to the High Court Bar Association for wider circulation.
Justice Vashisth underlined that court proceedings were being disrupted as judges often had to pause while waiting for advocates to look up material online. He noted with concern that, on some occasions, hearings were practically stalled until the phone-delivered answer arrived.
The judge remarked,
"Members of the Bar must not compel the Court to pass any harsh order on account of repeated use of mobile phones during hearing to update themselves through artificial intelligence or Google information."
The bench directed that the present order also be circulated by the Bar Association to its members as a warning. The case has now been adjourned to November 20, 2025, but the underlying message was clear-counsel must come prepared, without depending on gadgets inside the courtroom.
Case details:
RXXXXXX v. State of Haryana, CRM-M-31392-2025
Ravneet Singh Sandhu @ Manveer Singh v. UT of Chandigarh, CRM-M-50544-2025
