My first visit inside the Bombay High Court

The first thing my eyes searched what they had already accumulated since years, the courtroom pictures through the Bollywood movies. But it was not what they had saturated. I didn’t see a witness box, which in Hindi movies is called as Katghara where the probable witnesses and the convicts would stand and would be grilled by the lawyers.

Dr. Aparna Patil

My sleep the night prior to my first visit to the Bombay High Court was copious with elation and eagerness. My brother Chetan is a practicing Advocate in the Bombay High Court since 2009 and I wonder what delayed my first tour inside the Bombay High Court. I had frequent glances at the ticking hands till the alarm finally sang its tune. My sister Priyanka who is in the top bracket of the HDFC Ltd, soon to be merged into HDFC Bank, recommended a white or black or a mix of both for the color of my apparel for the day, as it catches the essence of the Court uniform. Both are my favorite colors so the choice went hassle free, which otherwise would have attracted an argument, for my rigid color choices which takes the shades between black and white. The color black and white is the symbol of legal profession through out the world baring a few exceptions. Well, black color has many overtones. The choice of color black can be traced back for two reasons- Colors and dyes were not readily available back then and the main reason for the color chosen was that the color Black is the color of authority and power. It denotes submission of oneself, submission to justice. White signifies light, goodness, innocence and purity. The legal system is a big hope of justice for a common man. White color represents him. The black robe over it brings in seriousness to the identity of the Advocate and provides a unique visual character to his professional image.

My brother was right on time to pick me up for my travel inside the Bombay High Court. As routine and almost mandatory on our way to the town from Navi Mumbai( my brother stays in Navi Mumbai and the High Court is in town, a long distance about an hour between them),he pointed out to some important locations, sites, to which I showed an avid enthusiasm as if seeing for the first time, but actually must have been my 20th time. But the ritual was followed without any amendments. Let me go some years back. Growing up I have smelt the air of legal profession in my house. I have seen the book titles like Maharashtra Law Journal, Supreme Court Cases, Penal Code and many such on our drawing room book shelves. My father qualified himself towards three career choices- LLB, CA and an Agriculturist. My grandfather was an agriculturalist and we had large amount of fertile land, so agriculture was one of the choices available. My father allowed himself with some trials and errors and there also played some circumstantial factors. Agriculture was the choice made. And through some of his pioneering work in agriculture, he soon gathered the adjective of progressive agriculturist to his name. But he has always said this and maintains that his first love is Law or as we say the legal profession. In his process of decision making towards his career choice, I have seen him wear the black coat, white shirt and trousers, and the white band around his neck. He is a good looking man but I remember his personality would charm up with the black coat on. Though he never practiced law as a profession he religiously spend many hours of the day in reading the related literature. I remember a fair, a little plump gentleman used to visit our house with the law related books. He had a perfectly round face, with almost a tomato red complexion, he was partially bald, with finely partioned grey hair and his language was a mix of English and Hindi. His style of narrating his product would easily throw light on his exquisite knowledge of what he sold. His Hindi words pronunciation spelt that he was certainly a Punjabi. His voice texture gathered the audience’s attention. My father in his company would end up in drawing up a fairly huge amount in the bill total. This would remain as a line of argument between him and my mother as it used to disturb the yearly budget of the family expenses. Here for a change my father would end up having more points in his kitty. I would never understand my father’s fondness for the law books, so with an intent of curiosity I did once turn up a page or two but I never went beyond it. Maybe I was too young then to understand the lines, but it is a truth that when I had to actually study Business Law as a subject in my last year of B.Com course, I learnt it only from the exam point of view and nothing beyond. As it goes by the Hindu tradition the child takes up his father’s profession, though things are changing now, we as three, myself, my brother and my sister were indeed privileged to have to choose from three options. I took up C.A course, in which I miserably failed and accidentally stumbled in the teaching profession , but that would be a different story may be for some of my other blog in future , my brother took up law as his profession, which gave my mother an ultimate relief for all the distorted budget figures in the past and ofcourse a moment of pride for our family. My sister who too was keen on the legal profession, who I believe would have excelled if into it, chose to step into the corporate ladder and today has climbed high and still going high. My brother is a practicing Bombay High Court Advocate for about 10 years now. But for so many years the High Court had just been, as I have mentioned earlier, as one of the sites in our ritual tour of Mumbai, where my brother in his inherent style would show, ‘This is the High Court where I work, this is the Bombay House, this on the right is HSBC, this the SBI’ and we would all nod as if it all being our first ever travel to the sites. But the day came and I was finally in the premises of one of the Grand historic structures of our country which has been proved as a significant deciding factor in the lives of so many.

My brother took the way which was reserved for the lawyers and I took the way which was for the rest. One of my brother’s staff lead me through the spiral steps to the next floor. The twisting stairs with the darkness accompanied, as there was no light on the way and the way to sunlight was dim,prompted me to be careful ,amidst my excitement to see my brother arguing his case. Through the entire climb I forgot to get the feel of a different run up as my mind was thinking heavy that I might miss my brother speak in the courthouse, as I would easily judge that there were many ahead of me to finally get my steps on the next floor. And there I saw my brother in the black coat, with a black rob over it almost touching the floor and the white band under his shirt collar, which presented him as distinct and exclusive. The white neck band has its own significance. It has its origin in England. In olden English Courts the lawyers used to wear white bands as a part of their uniform. Two pieces joined together represents the ‘ Tablets Of Law’ or ‘Tablets Of Stone’. My brother said, ‘Come ‘ and I followed him. I walked, no ran towards the court room. I could see that all were walking and I was the only one who was running. The difference was may be for a couple of reasons, one- all were in their regular Mumbai speed which I was not and the second one would be that I was more than eager to actually understand as to why the larger part of the book shelves at home were dressed up with law related books. My brother’s lawyer freinds accompanied us. They all were carrying bundles of folded sheets of paper wrapped around thick blue coloured folders in their hands and an equal number below their arms. As I watched them, I feared of the papers getting out of their place, but they didn’t even for a single time. On the way I just collected that it was an ancient structure of huge stones with a use of wood at the right places. Now I was in the Court room. It was jam packed. I lost the sight of my brother. His lawyer friend tried for a sitting position for me, but there was hardly any chance. So he found me a place, of course a standing one, at the right corner of the room, just close to the entrance, facing the ‘My Lord’. Initially for a few moments it was discomforting but soon I realized that I was in a position where I could have an undisturbed view of the entire room, with a clear audibility to the Court proceedings. I imagined that he must have gained experience of the place allotted to me, so he quickly disbursed in the crowd knowing that there would be no complain on my side. Naturally my eyes searched for my brother and I spotted him rather quickly in spite of the number of people in the room. I could see the back of his head. He was seating in the second row with many black coats along. His Lawyer friend suddenly emerged and said there is still time, five more to go. Now I allowed my thoughts to catch something beyond the eagerness that had grown healthier since the previous night. The first thing my eyes searched what they had already accumulated since years, the courtroom pictures through the Bollywood movies. But it was not what they had saturated. I didn’t see a witness box, which in Hindi movies is called as Katghara where the probable witnesses and the convicts would stand and would be grilled by the lawyers. ( Later my brother told me that such kind of arrangement was the feature of lower courts like the District Court). The ‘ Insaf Ka Taraju’ was also missing. ( The white blind folded lady with a measuring scale in her hand) . There were no men standing on both the sides of the judge swaying the huge piece of thick standing cloth attached to a wooden or a metal rod, used as a fan to allow air movement irrespective of the weather conditions. But after few minutes I did see a man may be in his early sixties with a white long kurta which had an anarkali style at its end. It was full sleeves with red colored border at its end. The entire border of his kurta carried the same fabric and color to that of the ends of his sleeves. He had a pagdi over his head, which was also in color red. He resembled to the sainiks of the kings, as shown in the movies and very recently seen as the sainkins made of mud in my nephews play assemblage.He remained standing to the left side of the Judge with a metal rod in his hand which had a design and structure to it. The Judge was seated right at the center of the opposite end of the entrance. His chair must have been placed over a platform which was many inches higher to the floor structure of the room. From his place one could easily guess that he had a clear view of every person almost fitted in the room. And the arrangement was obvious as he was the one who was above the rest in the room. The seating arrangement of the Judge is referred to as ‘ Bench ‘. There were two persons, a male to his right facing him and a female to his left facing him. They were seated with small tables in front of them. Their role soon became clear to me when I saw them writing what the Judge dictated. It was short hand writing. They were stenographers. I realized that it must not be an easy one as the Judge while pronouncing his judgment said the words in a quick flow and they would have to catch it correctly and note it down error free. I wonder if they were allowed or spared for a mistake. The ears, the brain and the hand needed to be in equal symphony, each having a role not less important than the other. But the comfort in the way they were into their task helped one to guess of their expertise and experience. Just may be three steps below the seating arrangement of the Judge there was a middle aged lady sitting parallel to the short hand writer on the right side of the Judge. She was also into some kind of writing but her main role remained in physically transferring the papers from the lawyers who were arguing for the moment, to the Judge. Her position was referred to as the ‘Associate. The seating arrangement of the Judge was separated from the rest by a wooden structure which did have an architecture to it. Immediately on this side there were about six chairs arranged in a line, of which those at the center were occupied by the Lawyers who were in the process of arguing and the rest in line were of those who were assisting them in their acts. One had to stand and argue and the one in opposition would seat waiting for his turn to come. I got an opportunity to hear four arguments before it was my brother’s turn. I also got to hear the trials in other rooms later. From all I can collect that no matter how big, experienced, reputed and expert Lawyer you are, the Judge remains your boss in the Court room. No matter how meticulously and hard you argue the Judge decides the fate of your argument on his expertise and knowledge, of course nothing beyond the scope of law. You have to know the minute details of your entire case in hand, various legal provisions affecting it, past similar judgements and also the correct analysis of the would be point of argument of your opposite team. The Lawyer also needs to have effective communication skills, research ability and a sense of enquiry. I felt in agreement with my brother’s statement that ‘Legal profession is an exam every day in a Lawyer’s life ‘. Needless to mention the Judge has to be equipped better than the Lawyers in the line. His judgment is not only the deciding factor in giving direction to the probable course of life of many who have stepped inside the Court doors but it can act as reference in point for similar cases that would be argued in future. Basically he needs to know all about the law that falls within our country’s legal scope and also beyond. From what I observed, the Judge has to have an in-depth level of concentration, a consistent level of patience and a razor sharp intelligence. Well one can say to actually serve justice to all, the Man on the Bench should not just be a great Judge, but should also be a great citizen and above all a great human being. On that day I got an opportunity to visit two Court rooms, besides the above features displayed by both the Judges, I noticed that they were merciless to the shortcomings if any of the points pleaded and even the grey and white haired were not spared. It was a phenomenal experience to be an audience to the court proceedings irrespective of the fact that the matters in question were alien to my ears and brain. The first three rows were used by the Lawyers, who, with my long spanned observation, I can say were almost cooling their heels waiting for their case number to be announced. Some looked relaxed and some had a trace of nervousness on their faces. This later encouraged me with a question to my brother’s Lawyer friend. I asked him, ‘ Is getting nervous a regular phenomenon for the Lawyers before they appear the Bench’. He with his collected experience replied, ‘ Not really. It happens to the beginners may be lasts for the first 15 to 20 appearances but later one gets used to it. The environment here prepares one for it’. I felt relieved to hear that. Coming back, leaving the first three rows the rest were occupied by others. Those whose matters were to be heard for the day and few by the individuals who were assisting the present Lawyers in the room. The civilians in the room other than the Lawyers had an unfailing expression of anxiety and fear on their faces. That was understandable as in most of the cases I believe from the discussion I once had with my brother, that lives, the entire life savings, and the future of their next generations could be at stake. And I observed that years of devotion, hard work would be decided in a matter of few minutes. This throws light on the significance and the pivotal role the judiciary system plays in the life of a nation. The room had a high ceiling which hung numerous fans with thick metal rods which maintained the climate favorable enough for the large number packed in. I can say that the Mumbai spirit is contagious and it could be well felt in the room though all present in the room were not the ‘ Mumbaikars’. Though the room overflowed with people, there was not an emotion of discomfort on any of the faces present. All looked just fine in the inches occupied by them which was were smaller than their body width. When there would be a new entrant there would be someone who would squeeze his body smaller to fit in the newly arrived. When there would be meeting of sights a smile would flicker effortlessly as if knowing the other for ages. My brother’s Lawyer friend came twice making a way from the front row to the end of the room where I was targeted with a uniform question ‘ Are you comfortable ‘. But for the moment his comfort was more important than mine so each time I gave him a comforting answer ‘Yes’. And finally my brother’s case number was announced and my stress hormones emerged in full strength. I guess it was mutual as my brother must gave felt the same level of stress or even more during my first public speech nine years back during the inauguration of our first only ‘Women’s Library’ in our native village Wadange in Kolhapur District. And this was from my angle a classic stress welcoming situation. I was to witness what me and my entire family had dreamt for many years behind. But I had prepared my body and mind with the very recent courses taken on meditation, so I just allowed the breathes in and out and the situation was in control. Nevertheless my palms and feet went freezing cold and there appeared a giddiness inside my stomach. I saw him walking a few inches ahead to take his place. I could see his back, and he stood straight with absolute no bent of his shoulders and I could hear his voice ‘My Lord’. Unfortunately the hearing was postponed to a date in future and my heart broke. But soon there was to be his matter in another Court room in an hour’s time.

Now it was the time to take a tour of the infrastructure inside the Court. As we walked my brother narrated me with the names of the different rooms on each of the three and a half floors of the huge structure. There were rooms on each floor which were identified by numbers allotted to them. The Bombay High Court is one of the oldest High Courts in India. It was inaugurated on 14th August 1862 under the High Court act 1861. The Court has an architectural built with an eye catching Gothic Revival Style. The building is a part of Victorian and Art Decoration Ensemble of Bombay which was added to the list of World Heritage Sites in 2018. It has huge corridors, with wide openings allowing a free flow of fresh air. The corridors were full of the black gowns. It was a enriching feeling as I walked through the corridors which had the touch of the greats like Mahatma Gandhi, Lokmany Tilak and Babasaheb Ambedkar. It surely gave me goosebumps when I saw the statue of the first Indian Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, Hon’ble Justice Mohammadali Carim Chagla. My mind immediately jumped to the book authored by him ‘ Roses in December’. It along with the book Nani Palkhiwala : A Role Model, who are the universal icons of every generation decorate the book shelf of my father and brother and uplifts its to some another level. Nani Palkhiwala was an Indian Jurist and a liberal Economist. He was one of the interpreters of Constitutional Law and a most ardent defender of civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. His legacy also includes the authoritative books, to name a few: The Law and Practice of Income Tax. We the People, We the nation and many more. Any number of pages will not be enough to say his legacy. Mohammadali Carim Chagla was an Indian Jurist, Diplomat and a Cabinet Minister who served as the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court from 1947 to 1958. Then there were two Bar rooms each on different floors. It is a place where the lawyers can spend their time off from their appearances in the courthouse. It felt nice to see them with some amount of relaxation a rare thing may be for them from the day. In the Bar room there were huge photo frames of some of the great Advocates and Judges that India has been blessed with. It felt great that my brother was a part of it now, which was once frequented by these great luminaries. One can’t help but get intrigued with this huge photo frames hanged. Then we saw the library which was huge and was filled with legal literature. There were quite a few immersed into the lines. Then I saw the marble tablet outside the Central Court which was engraved with the words of our great freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak which he had said during his conviction for sedation for articles he wrote in his publication ‘Kesari’.The words go as, ‘ Inspite of the verdict of the jury I maintain that I am innocent. There are high powers that rule the destiny of men and nations and it may be the will of providence that the cause which I represent may prosper more by my sufferings than by my remaining free’.

His hearing on sedation was one of the famous one that was conducted in this space. Then my brother took me to the Court of the Chief Justice. Our present Chief Justice of Bombay High Court is Hon’ble Justice Dipankar Datta. The room was a big one with a wide space. Unlike the other Court rooms there was complete silence except the voice of the Lawyer who was putting up his case. The chairs were arranged may be in five to six rows, and all were occupied. There was no standing audience. To the extreme right side of the room there were chairs arranged facing the Chief Justice, which were vacant and were separated from the rest by a small wooden framework which had a height smaller than the lower part of the chairs arranged. The arrangement of this part looked similar to the ones I have seen in some English movies. One that quickly comes to my mind is the very famous movie ‘ To kill a mockingbird’. It is a dramatic movie widely regarded as an American Classic released in 1962. It is adapted from Harper Lee’s coming of age novel with the same title that addresses racism and injustice. Atticus Finch, the principled and respected attorney played by the mesmerizing Gregory Peck, defends a Black man who is falsely accused of raping a white woman. The courtroom drama in the movie throws light on the horrors of racism, fight against injustice, courage, compassion and tolerance. The jury box resembled to that in the movie and of course many other English movies I have watched. It had a several feet high roof with innumerable fans hanging from the iron rods and it had a wonderful chandelier at centre hanging from the roof. Beyond the magnificent edifice the real beauty of this courtroom was the Chief Justice. I was there only for seven to eight minutes and was fortunate to hear the Chief Justice speak. He was explaining a legal provision and its impact on the current case being heard. The eloquence in his speech was widely evident as he explained provisions affecting the hearing in hand. His clarity of thought was vivid, the serenity on his face and a sublime thin smile as he allowed enough space for the argument in process, conveyed as to why he was in the place he was. As we walked the space further my brother said that this place has been the home of many historic hearings and brave judgments. I instantly remembered our History text book in school which is a rare thing to happen as I surely don’t have a sharp memory. May be it was the impact of the place. The great freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak was tried a number of times in Bombay High Court. But the most famous was his trial for sedation in 1916 case, Emperor V/S Bak Gangadhar Tilak .We had to skip the museum which was inaugurated in 2015 as time was short. I have heard and read that the museum is curated with old legal rolls, portraits of Advocates and a miniscule Court in a corner. We finally went to a place which served as a meeting point for the lawyers and their clients. It was structured in ‘L’ shape. It had a snacks corner at beginning of its face. The room accommodated may be 15 to 18 tables accompanied with chairs. I could see that most of the lawyers occupying the tables were having an equal dig at the snacks and the case papers. The clients sitting opposite to them were immersed in drawing conclusions of the different face lines that appeared on their savior’s face as their eyes glanced through the content in hand with equal attention to the food menu offered. We shared one coffee amongst the three of us and finally it was time and we were just in time to reach the courtroom where my brother had his case to argue. One thing one would not fail to notice is the presence of young lawyers both males and females. It was refreshing to watch them taking on the responsibility of the great legal luminaries. They were seen equipped with the latest technologies, the I pads and note pads in their hands. The mix of the experienced and the naive added a midas touch to the whole framework.

My brother’s case number was announced and he neared the bench with a natural grace and confidence. My stress hormones reappeared but the beauty of the moment just took it over as I heard my brother speak. My heart swelled with pride and honor. I would not miss this moment for anything in this world. He argued for about seven to eight minutes and the judgements was pronounced in his favor. I realized that my brother had walked miles ahead. As I left the premises of the monument of justice, my mind ran to the words of H.M.Seervai a great constitutional Lawyer of our country, who once said of this place ‘ Where every nerve would be strained to see that the right is not wasted and the wrong did not triumph ‘. I believe this place echoed his words.