A petition filed by a practicing lawyer Mathews Nedumpara, seeking one rupee as compensation from Justice Shahrukh Kathawalla of the Bombay High Court was turned down by a two-judge bench of the same High Court comprising Justices S. S. Kemkar and N. W. Sambre. Nedumpara pleaded before the two-judge bench that when he had appeared before Kathawalla on behalf of a litigant, the judge had made remarks that were not only incorrect, but also that he was not given a chance to be heard before those observations were made. Nedumpara had "sought a direction from the bench that a citizen whose fundamental rights were infringed by a judicial order was entitled to all legal remedies, including compensation and damages and even criminal action, as if it were an infringement at the hands of legislature, executive and fellow citizens,” reported the MumbaiMirror of July 28, 2018.
The bench noted that observations made by a court in a case before it cannot be said to violate the fundamental rights of a person. "What is required to be noted is the learned judge was discharging his judicial function pursuant to power and authority vested in him. While doing so, the observations made against the petitioner (Nedumpara), if any, are in a judicial order where the purpose is to discharge the function and duties as a judge in the process of administration of justice,” the bench said.