(Reader discretion advised. Contains sidgoyal1 style language and themes related to sex.)

One more thing: The narration came out unintentionally funny.

The verdict at the supreme court had been delivered. It was the 200th hearing of the day and it was only 11 am. The deal had been sealed. The high court’s decision had been upheld which meant that the lawyers in the country were now in big trouble. The judge Khinder was reading the final paragraph of his 2000 page judgment which summarized everything:

“Justice delayed is justice denied and we have seen several examples of that happening in the past. The courts in our country are perennially troubled with frivolous cases. Although, we are now nearly an 90 year old nation, we still need to learn the art of enjoying freedom more responsibly. While we believe that it is the right of all the citizens to file a petition and seek redressal from the courts, we also feel lawyers need to play their role more responsibly and start seeing beyond simply making Rs 10,000 an hour. Hence the court rules in favour of the state and finds the decision of both the High Court and the Sessions court to be a step in the right direction. Henceforth, any lawyer who loses a case in court involving murder, sexual crime, dowry, terrorism will lose their license to practice for a period of 1 year if in the opinion of the judge, they tried to misguide the court or made false claims, or for whatever other reasons, their integrity becomes questionable during the hearing. The lawyer will get the chance to make their case heard in front of a committee which will be composed of citizens of the state appointed by the Supreme court. This entire hearing will not exceed more than 3 days. It is the court’s firm belief that with these provisions in place, the conviction rates will go up. We also hope that this verdict does not in any way deter lawyers from taking up genuine cases where the defendants truly are not guilty. The lawyers can rest assured that the the court will not suspend their licenses unless and until they are found to be guilty of misguiding the court in the opinion of the judge. In simple terms, your license will not be revoked unless and until you ask for it.

The court will now take a 2 minute break and we will return to hear the next hearing.”

Harry Bakhtiyani had become the hero of the nation. He was the lawyer who had introduced this law to the nation by means of a simple petition. By the twenty third amendment of India’s constitution, common citizens now had the power to make suggestions to the government and bring new laws by means of a simple petition. The Supreme Court of India could also make suggestions to the government in matters of law and in 99% of the cases, the government took the court’s suggestion. Harry was over the moon. Not because he had managed to change the society. But because he relished being in the limelight. He had become an overnight celebrity and people would recognize him for a couple of years at least. As he headed towards his home, his mind had already bought a new Mercedes. This case would turn him into a celebrity lawyer and he’s never going to have a shortage of cases. There’ll be plenty of genuine cases where the defendants will be truly innocent and that is going to take care of his bread and butter for a long time. Even as he was thinking the thoughts, he reached home. As he was taking a shower, a doorbell rang. Harry opened the door while still in his towel.

“Hello Harry.” said a female voice. Harry’s heart skipped a beat and then started beating like he had just completed a 100m olympic race.The owner of the voice was Garima Manchanda. She was Harry’s college batchmate;the only female batchmate who had refused to sleep with him even though she was notoriously promiscuous.

“Hello Garima. What brings you to my place?”

“I have come here for help. I am in some legal shit and I need a lawyer.”

“Why me but?”

“Because I know you and well I don’t have too much money to hire a good lawyer.”

“Are you mocking me you bitch?”

“No no no Harry. That’s  not what i meant at all. What I mean to say is that I know you well and even though I cannot afford to pay your fee, I can definitely pay you in ummm…. some other ways…if you know what I mean. For representing me in court, I can offer you a night with me.”

“It wont do I am afraid.”

“How about 4 nights and all advance.”

“Hmmm…Ok I am game. It’s a deal. Where do I sign?”

“Don’t you want to hear about the case first?”

“Sure… what is it?”

“Well I am accused of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.”

“Whoa whoa whoa. Hang on a second bitch. What the heck did you do?”

“Absolutely nothing. I wasn’t even with the person the day he died. In fact I was not even in the same state.”

“Any witnesses who can testify to prove your alibi?”

“Plenty. I was in Delhi, the day the guy died. The guy died in Mumbai. I have every record to prove I was not there. People at the Delhi hotel will be able to testify.”

“So why the heck are you being accused?”

“I used to date the guy. His family didn’t approve of me for some reason. They hold a grudge against me God knows why. We stopped dating about a month back.”

“Hmmm…sounds like an open and shut case to me. Ok so where do I sign?”

“I have brought the contract with me. I have made it so that once I “pay” you, you will have to fight my case till the end. If you lose this case, you of course, stand the chance of losing your license thanks to your own doing, I hope you are aware of that.”

“Well that’s unlikely to happen since that ruling is for those lawyers who try to defend the undefendable.”

“Perhaps, you didn’t listen to the verdict carefully Harry. The ruling also applies to those lawyers whose integrity becomes suspect. This means you can also get fucked in the ass if you deliberately try to sabotage my case or in general take things casually after you have got your payment. You of course win the case if these charges against me are dropped. Is that fine?”

“Hmmm…yeah I guess that’s fine. I wasn’t planning on losing your case. No lawyer ever wants to lose a case. I mean that’s just common sense. Anyway, give me the papers and I’ll put my signatures on them.”

“Here you go.”

Harry signs the papers and the deal is sealed. Being a good lawyer, he had carefully read what was written in the papers and only after a couple of hours did he sign it.

“Well when do I get my first installment?”

“Tonight.”

And so Harry gets all his payments without a problem and now it was time to keep his part of the deal. The first hearing of the case was only a couple of days away. He had examined all the witnesses and with the fast track courts, he was expecting to win the case in record time.

The day finally arrives. The court was now in session and the hearing for State vs Garima Manchada had begun. The DA was on his feet and his first witness was “Garima herself”

“Ms Garima. We are here to debate whether or not there is a case against you for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Can you state your profession for the court records.”

“I am an actor.”

“ACTOR! Nice. Do you work in movies, television or what?”

“Movies.”

“MOVIES. Nice. Surely not the Mumbai film industry? Otherwise you would have been pretty famous by now. So which state do you work in?”

“Down South.”

“Down South? Really?”

Objection, your honor… irrelevant. Objection sustained. DA is advised to get to the point quickly.

“Sorry your honor. Ms Manchanda. Is it true that you work in films which are meant for the adult audiences and that they require you to perform acts that are of sexual nature in front of the camera?”

“Yes that is correct.”

Harry was in a state of shock. Garima had not told him that. Suddenly, the case was not so open and shut after all.

“What kind of precautions do directors take when they make such films? Do you people use condoms?”

“Sometimes we do.”

“Sometimes? You mean to say you don’t use condoms all the time?”

“Yes that’s correct. We don’t use them all the time.”

Harry’s heart was in his mouth now. He could see where this was going.

“Will it be wrong to assume that the chances of catching an STD in your profession is a bit on the higher side?”

“No. It won’t be wrong to assume that.”

“So I believe you must be getting your HIV tests done on a regular basis?”

“Yes I did.”

“Ms Manchanda… can you confirm to the court if you are indeed HIV positive and that if you do have AIDS?”

“I am HIV positive and I do have AIDS.”

“For how long have you had AIDS?”

“For about a year now.”

“When did you get to know that you had AIDS?”

“About 8 months back!”

“Did you have a sexual relationship with the victim in all this time?”

“Yes I did.”

Harry’s whole world was shattered by those words. He now had to defend the woman who would be responsible for his altered life which would require him to take injections costing Rs 10,000 each every 5 days for the rest of his life. He could of course defend her and get her off but now he certainly didn’t want to. The bitch had played a bad game with him. He had developed a new respect for her legal skills though. She was too smart to be a porn star.

But now Harry had a big dilemma. He wanted to destroy her and yet he had to defend her! He had to lose the case, trying to win it and yet not break any rules. But if he lost the case, he would also lose his reputation.

“Your honor. The victim, Ansh Mehta had a fatal heart attack on the morning of June 17, 2032. He had caught cold a couple of days back. His post mortem from AIIMS has confirmed that he was indeed HIV positive and had started suffering from AIDS. Let’s not even speculate why he got the heart attack. It was AIDS that killed Ansh Mehta. And Ms Manchanda gave it to him knowing fully well that she had AIDS herself. Your witness.”

“No questions your honor”

“In that case, this hearing is adjourned. The next date of the hearing will be given to both parties by the clerk’s office. The DA is ordered not to give any statements in the press due to the nature of the case. Next case…”

“You bitch. How could you do this to me?”

“I am sorry Harry.You’re the lawyer. It’s your job to question me. Besides, it wont be so bad. The injections are going to cost very little in the next 5 years also. As per the contract, you need to defend me to the best of your abilities. Now you better start doing your job more seriously. Otherwise your career will be on the downward spiral. Have a nice day pervert.”

Garima left Harry who was feeling as if someone had punched hard into his belly.

Day 2 of the hearing:

Harry stands up in the court room and says: “Your honor, I would like to call the defendant to the witness stand.”

“Ms Manchanda. What kind of a relationship did you have with the victim?”

“We were dating. Some times we lived together for weeks.”

“Did the victim know about your profession?”

“According to him, he fell in love with me when he saw one of my movies. So I am guessing he knew about my profession.”

“Oh. So the victim liked to watch pornographic films?”

“Yes apparently.”

“Point to be noted your honor. The victim knew about the defendant’s profession. Now Ms Manchanda, did the victim know about your condition?”

“Yes he did.”

“Really? When did you tell him about it?”

“Well the first time we were about to… do it.”

“You mean the first time you were about to have sex?”

“Yes.”

“And yet he did not hesitate even for a second?”

“Well I guess he did not.”

“Do you think, any man in their right mind would want to have a sexual relationship with a person who is carrying AIDS?”

“Well, I don’t think he was crazy.”

“So didn’t it surprise you that he did not hesitate even for a second?”

“Well it did initially. But later on we stopped caring.”

“Ms Manchanda, when you were telling the victim that you had AIDS, where exactly were you?”

“We had rented a motel in Pahad Ganj.”

“Was the room nice? Did it have a compi?”

“Yeah it was too nice  for a motel. It had everything including the compi.”

“What mode was the compi in when you were there?”

“Well it was in the television mode. A movie was playing.”

“So is it possible that perhaps the victim did not hear you when you told him about it?”

“There’s a possibility yes.”

“Point to be noted your honor: The defendant told the victim about her condition before their relationship begun!” A weak smile appeared on Garima’s face. Harry continued, “However, it is equally notable that there is a good chance that the victim did not hear the defendant right but that still doesn’t mean that the defendant is guilty of culpable homicide.” Harry was now moving moving all across the court room with his hands in his pocket. “She told the victim about her condition and therefore we move the court to drop the charges of culpable homicide. That’s all your honor.” Harry now sat down in his seat. Garima was feeling triumphant. She knew the case would now be closed.

The DA stands up.

“Your honor, the state would like to commend Mr Bakhtiyani for doing a remarkable job defending his client while at the same time not trying to misguide the court.” The DA looks in Harry’s direction. Harry acknowledges with a nod and then buries his head in his arms listening closely to the DA. His lips were slowly curling into a smile. He knew exactly what was about to happen in the next few seconds. The DA continued,

“However, by the defendant’s own admission, there is a good chance that the victim did not know about her condition while they were in a relationship even though she claims to have told him. Your honor, in light of these new facts the state believes that it was the duty of the victim to ensure that the victim knew about her condition.

Hence the state would like to drop the charges of culpable homicide against the defendant and would instead like to try the defendant for ‘death due to negligence.’”

Garima could not believe what she had just heard. Harry was having a hard time suppressing his glee.

The judge asks, “Does the defence have anything to say?”

Harry responds with a “No Your Honor.”

“In that case the charges of culpable homicide against the defendant are now dropped and the defendant will be tried for death due to negligence. Next case…”

Outside the courtroom, Garima says to Harry, “Well done. Now at max I face a jail term of 2 years. But you seem to be doing a fine job. Get back to work. We have a long battle ahead of us.”

“Not sure I understand you. What battle?”

“You heard the judge. We now need to fight against the charges of death due to negligence.”

“Oh yeah. All the best. I hope you find yourself a good lawyer.”

“Look dumbass. You’re my lawyer. You’re gonna be fighting for me. We have a contract. And I have the original copy.”

“Well bitch, perhaps you should have done your homework more carefully. The original charges have been dropped against you. You are no longer being tried for Culpable Homicide Not Amounting to Murder. As per the contract, I don’t have to defend you anymore. You see, you only wrote in the contract that if the charges of culpable homicide are dropped, then I win the case. This means that I have already won. You’re dead bitch. You’re fucking dead and you’re going to prison.” Harry was shaking.”And you deserve it.”

Garima was sentenced to 5 years rigorous imprisonment after a petition was filed by Harry which increased the maximum jail term for death due to negligence to 7 years. In 2077, a new injection for AIDS was invented which cost only Rs 13,000 each and had to be taken once every 10 days. Harry lived for another 80 years before dying in his sleep.

Copyright © 2010 Siddharth Goyal Email: sidgoyal1@gmail.com
Disclaimer: All characters in the above story are fictitious and bear no resemblance to any person living or dead. I have not read the constitution of India and do not know how the court system actually works. The story is completely based on what I have seen in the movies and other media and the narration is completely my imagination. You’re requested not to assume anything based on your reading of this fictitious work (from a legal point of view).