Overheard in the Supreme Court of India – I

(After a long time, I am back to doing Supreme Court “fact”-ion. In the claustrophobic crowded courtrooms on some days, one tends to overhear many things, without necessarily trying to eavesdrop. Mostly it is banal chit chat and corridor gossip. On occasion one stumbles upon a genuine gem that one feels compelled to share. Suitably changing enough details to make the speakers un-identifiable (and the hearer anonymous, of course). This is one such. Hopefully there will be others to follow.)

“Oh hey! Didn’t see you there, long time no see.”

“Ah ha, yes, hello hello…”

“What’s up?”

“Same old, same old.”

“Why the long face?”

“Kuchh nahin yaar Just this matter in this court today.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing much. Nothing much. Had paid the registry-fellow one lakh to get my matter placed on top of the Board today for this Court. Didn’t happen.”

“Oh? Oh! Why? How come?”

“Well… apparently, and I found this out later from some other people, Chief Justice Kapadia sits every evening with the Registrar (Listing) and goes through the entire causelist to make sure every matter is listed exactly where it’s supposed to be strictly according to the Rules and the Orders of the Court.”

“Every evening?”

“Every evening.”

“Every single matter?”

“Every single matter!”

“On the entire..”

“Yes, yes, the full causelist, all courts, all items every day yes yes.”

“Wow. That’s amazing.”

“Yeah… that is… good only.”

“So what happened to yours?”

“Well, he saw that the the causelist said that the matter was to be placed top of the Board and taken up first. He asked for the order of the Court which said it should be listed today on top of the Board. Obviously, there wasn’t any such order. So he directed that the list be modified and it be taken up later in the day. So… gone.”

“Still waiting for the matter?”

“Yeah. Still waiting. Client wanted it listed on top. I tried what I could. Couldn’t get it past the Chief.”

“But that’s quite amazing. He’s being really strict about this corruption thing isn’t he?”

“Yeah… he seems to be.”

“Especially after the Chief before him.”

“Yeah, that’s good I guess. Well… at least my conscience is clear. I did what I had to do for my clients. I will sleep well tonight.”

“Right.”