Mumbai's 'Underworld Courts': What Were They? How Did They Thrive?

File photos of underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim (left) and Chhota Rajan.

Source : Getty & AFP

Most of the courts of law in Mumbai are housed in beautiful British-era buildings constructed in the Victorian-Gothic style of architecture. They are grand, strong and reminiscent of the imperial power that dominated the city for over two centuries. But I also see them as some of the most depressing places in Mumbai. Thousands of litigants, making adjustments to their routine life, with some sacrificing their daily earnings, make rounds of these stone buildings to seek justice. But in India, the