Suo motu case file No: 2

The raspy voice of the Judge ordered, “Come to my chamber, pronto" and disconnected the call. With dread flowing like a viscous liquid, he approached the chamber. The door was left ajar and his leaden legs slowly carried him to the presence of "His Lordship". He made polite, scrapping noise and cleared his throat several times. The Judge did not acknowledge any of them and was busily trying to scribbling on the imposing table top, as if he was writing a weighty Judgement. On closer examination, he understood the reason, why? The Judge had air pods, tightly plugged into his ears, probably belting out “who cares if I cut the wood, saw it, chisel it and nail it since I like the sounds."

Finally, sensing his presence, the Judge pulled out the air pods, spewed out a sit command and smiled at him.

Do you know why I called you?

I can't even guess the reason, Judge.

I liked your hitting arguments, during the last pro bono case. You would have noticed that I was nodding my head, here and there.

Yes, Judge I saw you nodding but thought may be my arguments helped you to have some of the forty winks, you might have missed!

You are partly right but believe me about what I said. You made some telling points there.

Thank you, Judge. This, you could have conveyed when I was on call with you.

I had a reason and have another pro bono case for you, again a suo motu brief.

Judge, with all due respect, when I saw you chipping away wood, I thought you were getting ready to do it yourself.

Not a chance. I am barred from presiding as a Judge or appearing as an Advocate in any other court room. Added to that insult, The Law proscribes a Judge from acting as an advocate, jury and an executor. That being the case, how can I be a Judge and also argue a case in my own court? Got my point?

He Chuckled,” Whether the Law frowns upon or not, sure the Judge was frowning at me!”

The Judge said, “Here is the brief and the hearing is scheduled in two days.”

Judge, why such a short time for my preparation and I have not even opened the brief, yet.

“Don't haggle for time. I am starting my forced vacation, from the bench, shortly thereafter. Understand the pressure on me, come and argue on the scheduled hearing date. You may leave now and close the door as you go, if you may.”

Judge, if you agree not to catch a few winks on the bench, then I agree to do my best. Good day.

On the scheduled day, the pro bono Advocate appeared before the Judge. The Judge, interrupting his wood carving effort, hurriedly pocketed the nail, and asked the Advocate, "Do you have any motions, now?"

The Advocate, a diet fiend never had any such issue, was temporarily flummoxed. He then understood what the Judge meant to ask was about pre-trial motions. He immediately answered "Judge, sidebar, please"

The annoyed Judge literally shouted, "What for? Only you and me are in this otherwise empty court room. Say what you have to, from where you are standing."

The Advocate asked, " Clarification. Why only the learned Judge and me on this case. Why have you included another case to run concurrently?"

The Judge impatiently snapped, "Simple. No other court cases for me and no other client for you! During my vacation how am I to hear the other case?  Now proceed with your opening statement, case by case."

The case of plagiarism:

Advocate: Imagine driving an automobile and violating traffic rules. You end up paying fine, and in serious cases, the license gets revoked. If you did not have a valid license, to start with, then it is the harshest possible punishment.

Judge: Advocate, save your breath. Is this your opening statement or closing argument? When will you touch upon the case of plagiarism in research papers?

Perplexed in what way a research paper affected the Judge, he replied," Your honour, there is active research, passive research and imaginary research. Who would answer the question that plagiarism applies to which one of them? Is it not apparent that, there is a striking similarity between driving a vehicle and authoring a research paper?"

Watching the Judge fidgeting in his seat, he hastily added, "Judge, I am almost there. Plagiarism is like driving without a valid license. If caught, the offender pays a fine or, in serious cases, gets the credentials revoked or rescinded."

The Judge straightened in his seat, after hearing the word rescinded.  Without a pause, the Advocate continued, "Your honour, now a motion "

The Judge snapped and jumped up, “What? A while back you assured this court that you are a conscientious diet fiend!" 

Advocate murmuring to himself, who said this Judge doesn't have a sense of humour. “Yes, Judge not that motion, I would like to call an expert witness to make things clear."

Judge without realising what he was saying, said " Go for your motion. Call your witness."

Judge, I would like to call that imaginary witness, now.

You didn't lay a proper foundation for this.

Your Honour, this is a Mason’s trick.

Judge frantically looked here and there. Confused he spoke, I didn't call for any repair, why a mason should be here? He vaguely remembered to have heard of a Mason’s name, probably in connection with criminal law course, and recollected that he had, suo motu, decided to excuse himself from those lectures. To cover that up, he asked, "Your witness is an expert, in what field?"

Judge, he is calling himself such, I had to accept his words. Remember, this is a pro bono case you foisted on me? So, I should be given some leeway.

Judge, started to actively inspect the cobweb hanging from the ceiling and then at the wall clock which had stopped long back.

Judge: I am not able to see your witness, how can I ask him questions, if I need to?

Advocate: Did I not tell your honour that he is my imaginary witness! How can you interact with such a person?

Judge: Then how you will proceed with your case?

Advocate: Your honour, very simple. He had already briefed me extensively and now I have another motion here"

Becoming alert, the Judge questioned, “Dietary or legal?”

Advocate: Legal. This being a peculiar case and a peculiar witness, I seek permission to be the voice of my witness.  I will recite a summary of his deposition.

The Judge had no other option but to relent, as he had granted an earlier motion to call this witness. In frustration, he banged his fists on the bench, forgetting the gavel in front of him, and shrieked, "Go ahead and enlighten me."

Your honour, this is summary of the deposition given by my witness. “What is fudging? Here and there changing the numbers and values. After all, remember the numbers and values are invented quantities, with arbitrarily assigned importance. Yet, when numbers change, graph changes, again a representation of the fudged numbers. What harm does it do as long as it is on paper?

Pause a moment and think. All of us use a dictionary but do we give credit to the source or obtain permission, while writing anything in any language? School children are taught to draw graphs and some of the inventive ones do alter the numbers and fudge to get by. Then why do research papers alone, containing language, graphs and numerals that are used by all at some time or the other, be attached with the stigma of plagiarism?”

The Judge went immobile with closed eyes. The lawyer wondered whether he had heard the summary or chosen to catch his forty winks! 

“A case, full of curious twists, leaves me with no other option but ...”, The Judge drawled on. Thinking the worst is about to happen, the Advocate prompted, " Are you going to.... ?"

The Judge, interrupting him, said, “I am sending this case to a larger bench to untangle the intricacies." The Advocate felt relieved that both of them will not be involved in further proceedings on plagiarism.

But the Judge was not yet done with. “Now, be good and argue the other case. 

The case of the forest dwellers:

Advocate: Judge, why this, also as a suo motu case?

Judge: A simple reason. The public should not perceive that my court handles only other matters. I want to send the message that I am as concerned as others, about forests and forest dwellers. Got my point?

The Advocate became worried and felt like someone lost in the Amazon jungle. His familiarity with forests stopped with newspaper articles and occasional television clips. He had not ventured into a forest nor had come across anyone representing the forest dwellers.

Having agreed, he decided to pray for a day's adjournment. He knew, instead of asking for a motion, if he pled for a prayer, the Judge would readily grant it. He did so and got two days instead of one. This also he knew- another leaf from Mason’s ruse, that the Judge always would double whatever was pled for in his court. A showman of superiority complex.

The Advocate spent time, in searching for a forest which he could visit to familiarise with the reality. Finally, he located a forest but at a distance of 200 and odd kilometers. After a bone breaking journey, he reached a thatched roof cafe announcing its presence with a swirling stream of smoke. Seating was hard, bark-less tree trunks and a warped plank on wooden stakes serving as the table. 

The proprietor cum server cum cashier peeked at the lawyer from behind a smoke screen. Obviously, he had been coaxing a wood burning mechanism to come to life. Unasked, he placed a chipped mug filled with a dark coloured liquid and sat before the Advocate. A sip of the brew tasted smokey-herbie combo.

The noise of approaching mechanical contraptions, peeked up the ears of the cafe owner and the lawyer. Oh! The give and take have come early today, exclaimed the owner. Then he explained they give money and take away forest products. Some even fund small time farms to cultivate forest-specific produce and make good profits, in the market. The poor, innocent forest dwellers, taken in by the lure of ready money, have willingly become tenant farmers in their own lands.

The Advocate has seen enough and heard enough. Sitting on that hardwood stool, he furiously wrote a few pages. He wondered where from he got the points to fill up the pages so fast. Thanking the cafe owner, after finishing another hot, Smokey-herbie brew, he hit the bumpy road back home. Halfway through the journey, he remembered that he had not asked the café owner’s name.  Though he had a few hours to spare on the two-day deadline, he wanted to get it over with, to avoid an appearance in the court.

He knew the Judge would be in his chamber, chipping wood from his table or looking for loopholes in the law. When asked, the Judge had replied, that if you want to adjudicate, you should be aware of the loopholes. 

The Judge was surprised when the lawyer materialised before him. The Advocate handed over his notes and said, "Judge, now you can look up the forest acts and find loopholes in them. I rest my brief in-camera. I have planned to take a long vacation to get rid of this pro bono tag. Naturally, the Judge was aghast and blurted out, " Where would I find another pro bono Advocate like you. You are a rare species. I have in mind to take up a suo motu on felling of trees, on a large scale. Hope to do something for the trees, if not for the forests. Don't desert me now."

The Advocate smitten by the Judge's praise and technique of dangling carrot, managed a weak smile and said, " Maybe, I would take only a short vacation, for now" and left the Judge to resume his hobby of wood chipping.