In the name of humour
The Indian Judiciary is not exactly a funny place. Well, because serious things happen here. Fates are decided, laws are passed and lives change. At least that is what we think. But though all of this happens inside the court, other things happen too. The waiting periods are long enough for a couple of generations to live in court, fees of lawyers are charged per minute (if not per second) and judges are well, judges.
So how can anyone deal with this apart from humour? As Jug Suraiya quotes (author, columnist and journalist) “Humour is that valve that lets out all this built up pressure. Humour is an essential element in democracy.” In the book titled Court Jester, Raju Z Moray takes one on a tour inside the courts and we see all that happens inside. Through the corridors where lawyers ‘act’ busy to show their clients their capabilities, to the court lift where there are separate queues for litigants and lawyers, the libraries where there are reserved desks for all seniors, and the boards where one can spend their time ‘Board Watching’. We see the world of lawyers and judges through the eyes of Gobble. D. Gook, a lawyer himself who shares small anecdotes about a life lived inside the temple of justice. The stories are diverse, they include tales of hypocritically honest lawyer’s who refuse to take their bribes inside the temple of justice, (because they have their princi- ples of course), to superstars who drive over black bucks (or underprivileged people ) only to fly over the law later. The characters that come by are also interesting, there is Timepasskar, Stingfee, Injection Antony and a few goats, bats and monkeys. What happens to these characters is usually what happens to all the people who have any experience to fight for their rights. All the litigants remind one of RK Laxman’s common man, who perhaps got really old waiting for a judgment to come by, while selling all that he had to protect what he thought was his.
The book also is interspersed with poems and rhymes in the language of law. What is interesting is the question whether Raju Z Moray’s book has any literary value? Perhaps it does, for it flips the most (in plain words) boring language to create a delightful entertaining read. All the ones who have been engaged in legalities might just read these words, for the first time, just for the pleasure of reading them.
If you have to look at numbers, and analyse where the Indian Judiciary is at, there are millions of cases in backlog in the high court and the court of small causes. If one further digs into how long some of these cases have been running one might get astounded. In 2014 the Delhi high court granted divorce to an 85 year old man, after a legal battle that lasted thirty two years. Is this an exception or the norm, you might judge for yourself. What can anyone do but laugh at the state of irony in the nation’s (rather slow) machinery, where pulling time is a full time job, and asking for your rights isn’t wrong, but it takes too long.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary hereinbefore, I solemnly declare that I love you more, And whereas co respondents allege that you permit them an edge, -I deny, I traverse, I ignore.