By Sneha Rajaram
By Sneha Rajaram
Once upon a time, in the hallowed land of the Supreme Court, there existed a species called the molester-lawyer. These molester-lawyers roamed the wilds of the SC, molesting lawyers and interns left and right, until one fine day, the molested lawyers, one after another, decided to complain.
But alas! They did not know that an evil curse was laid on this process. Each lawyer would complain, only to mysteriously withdraw her complaint and settle the matter with her molester-lawyer counterpart. Was this bamboozlement the result of a spell, or a glamour perhaps? The SCWLA (Supreme Court Women Lawyers’ Association) wondered. And lo and behold! They filed a petition. Whereupon the SC called upon its ten-headed Vizier, Ms Vishakha Panel, to deal with these occult happenings.
This would seem like a happy ending. But alack! Woe betide us subjects of this good land, when the town crier has been cleaved in two, and the two halves turn this story to tragicomedy!
One half says, most respectfully, “women”:
SC issues Notice to it’s Vishakha Panel on Petition by Women Lawyer’s Association
And the other half mocks him with “lady”:
Sexual Harassment against Lady Lawyers at Supreme Court
One half begins a sentence so righteously:
But with the reputation of the accused lawyer, son of a noted advocate, involved, the matter was soon settled between the two parties under aegis of the Supreme Court Bar Association…
And the other half makes us wonder whose side it’s on:
…and it was ensured that the issue did not blow up.
But we are grateful to the town crier nevertheless. For ’tis a most important story, and, we must say, meticulously told. Furthermore, the town crier himself christened this species ‘molester-lawyer’. You may read his story yourself here.