Court reporting is not as easy as it used to be,
say ten years back. In the days of television and ‘tweeteretti’, a court
reporter or, to put it in a sophisticated way, a legal correspondent has to be prompt
in reporting what the lawyers argue and the judges say in court. Those days are
gone when the reporter could depend on the summary statement of the advocates
of both the litigating sides and go through the copy of the judgment before
dispatching his report.
Trust me, it is also not as easy to be prompt in
court reporting as the television producers demand a reporter to be. Even if
you are present in the courtroom, the Indians I mean and to be specific in Bengal’s, there is no guarantee that at the first go you
will be able to fathom what the lawyers are arguing and what the judges are
muttering. Leave the district courts aside. Let us enter the High Court. Unless you know the
subject of the litigation or lawyer decides to speak in an audible voice, you
are going to stare at everyone’s face to understand what the drama is all
about. You are lucky if you get to hear a ‘dramatic’ lawyer. At the end of his
argument it will seem as if he has the case in the bag and the judge is about
to deliver the verdict in his favour. But wait! The lawyer from the other side
will change your whole idea about the case when he starts and finishes his
argument.
My first professional entry into a courtroom was
when a chartered accountant, Mr RS Lodha, claimed he became the owner of the Rs
5000-crore property of Mr MP Birla as, according to his documents, Mr Birla’s
wife Ms Priyamvada Birla wrote the property in his name in her will. The whole
of Birla clan contested the will. At the end of each day’s hearing, we used to
go to the solicitors’ offices of both Mr Loda and the Birlas. My colleague
still says, at the end of the solicitors’ briefings it used to look as if both
the parties have won the day.
Who doesn’t like to see two parties quarreling? Let’s
admit it’s fun witnessing a legal argument. But when the advocate delves into
voluminous judgments of the bygone days and hover over a single point of
argument, it slowly begins to sound like a lullaby and sweet sleep beckons.
Arguments are over. Now it’s time for the judge to give you a hard time. Most
of the times only the judge and the court officer will manage to hear the
verdict. And this is also a good time to test your hearing power. You will
literally have to stretch your ears to get a word or two of the judgment. You
will get to know which ear is functioning perfectly and which is not! Then you
will have to run after the lawyers or the court officers present in the court
to get the gist of the judgment. If the judge is loud, don’t conclude from his
initial words what judgment he is finally delivering. In the first part of the
order he may be recording the arguments of the lawyers, then his own
observations and finally his verdict will come. So wait till the last moment.
You can’t flash the final order until he is leaving his chamber or taking up
the next case.
And if it is a trial court, it has happened that
the reporters had to wait till 10
o’clock in the evening to know the order of a high profile case
when the arguments were over at 2
pm in the afternoon.
On top of everything you cannot go wrong in
giving any information about a case. You will be caught by the court, let alone
by your boss.
And understanding legal jargons? Let’s keep
the issue for another day. That’s another story.
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