The judge said she received a call from an unknown number who identified himself as the Congress MLA.
A Gujarat High Court judge has taken serious note of a call she received on her official mobile number from a person claiming to be the Congress MLA from Petlad in Anand district and seeking to influence the court's decision related to an anticipatory bail matter.
Justice Bela Trivedi on Tuesday asked the Anand Superintendent of Police to get the statements of the MLA, Niranjan Patel, and a man identified as Toufik Vohra based on call data record obtained by the HC registrar.
Justice Trivedi had said she will initiate proceeding under Contempt of Courts Act against the caller for committing an "act which prejudices or interferes or tends to interfere with due course of any judicial proceedings or interferes or tends to interferes with the administration of justice in any manner."
Anand SP Ajit Rajian said he submitted a report to the court on Wednesday as directed, but declined to share its details, saying the matter was sub-judice.
The matter was adjourned for Thursday.
Despite multiple attempts, Mr Patel could not be reached for a comment on the issue.
Justice Trivedi, hearing the anticipatory bail matter of one Vijay Shah, said on Tuesday she received a call on her official mobile phone at 8:55 am from an unknown number from a person who identified himself as the Congress MLA from Petlad, Niranjan Patel.
When he tried to talk about a criminal case, she said she disconnected the call after telling the person that he cannot make a call like this.
The person called again three times, one after the other, then sent three SMSes related to the case number of Vijay Shah, saying he should not get pre-arrest bail, according to the court order.
When the HC Registrar (IT) was asked to find out whom the mobile number belonged to, it came to light it was assigned to "Tosif Faiz Xerox." Upon further probe, it was found the number belonged to one Toufik Vohra, a resident of Anand town, the order said.
Ashish Dagli, lawyer for the applicant (Shah), was asked to find out how Mr Patel was connected to his client.
Mr Dagli said Mr Patel was keen to see that the petitioner (Shah) is arrested, and he had even approached the DySP of Anand for the same, according to the court order.
"Since nobody can directly or indirectly try to approach the court or influence the court, in a way try to pollute the stream of justice, it is necessary to obtain the details of the call made from the number.
"The Registrar (IT) is directed to obtain the necessary details with regard to the registration/ownership of the said mobile number along with call details from Vodafone and intimate the court by tomorrow (Wednesday)," Justice Trivedi said in her order on Tuesday.