The 'Humour in Court' section on the Delhi High Court website is alive and kicking with funny and witty exchanges in courtrooms. One look at the section gives a peek at the jokes inside the court. Be it witty exchanges between lawyers and judges to litigants shouting inside courts, the funny instances shared in the section sheds a light on how courtrooms function.
Here are few of the funny instances shared in Delhi High Court's 'Humour in Court' section:
"During my initial days in practice, while I was waiting for my matter to be taken up by a Ld. Metropolitan Magistrate at a Trial Court in Delhi, a litigant who evidently was disappointed by the order being passed in her matter, repeatedly told the Ld. Metropolitan Magistrate that such an order cannot be passed and screamed 'I want Justice!', 'I want Justice!'.
However, the Ld. Metropolitan Magistrate kept his cool and told the lady that she can challenge his order but shouting will not make any difference, but unmoved, the litigant kept on shouting the same words 'I want Justice!', 'I want Justice!'.
The Ld. Metropolitan Magistrate finally lost his patience and politely told the litigant, Justices are in the Hon'ble Supreme Court and Hon'ble High Court. I am a Metropolitan Magistrate. The entire Court erupted into laughter."
The above instance has been shared by Advocate Hemant Shah.
Another incident is of a lawyer who tried to convince a judge that he has filed the reply he never filed in reality. Here's how judges deal with it:
A GST Restoration Tale
"Scene: Argument before a Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi.
Advocate: "Your Lordships, I have filed a reply to the show cause notice issued by the department."
Senior Judge on the Bench: "Show us the reply."
Advocate (with confidence): “I don't have the copy right now, but it's clearly mentioned in the GST cancellation order that a reply was filed on so and so date.”
Senior Judge on the Bench (chuckling): "Don’t try to take benefit of this! They write this in every order, whether you filed the reply or not!"
Advocate: Admitting with a smile that no reply has been filed by the client.
Both Judges on the Bench: Laughed.
The entire courtroom: Burst into laughter.
The best part? Despite the laughter, relief was granted, GST restored and the client was happy!
This is a reminder that in the world of litigation, a sense of humor can go a long way!
The above instance was shared by Advocate Atin Handuja.
When A Lawyer Took Too Long To Complete Arguments
"Scene: A senior counsel arguing a trademark matter and taking too long to complete his arguments. The matter involved a restaurant abroad and the issue was its trans-border reputation in India.
Judge: “Counsel, are we on a scenic route to your argument, or is there a highway?”
Senior Advocate: “My Lord, I am merely stopping at all the necessary landmarks before we reach our destination.”
Judge: “Well, I am all in for scenic routes, but let’s speed up before we run out of fuel.”
The above instance was shared by Advocate Ms. Rajeshwari H.