‘Court’ing trouble with a red T-shirt

With progress, one would expect a wider world view. But my experiences while covering courts in supposedly cosmopolitan Mumbai completely belies that notion.

Just last week, I was stunned to hear this remark from a female lawyer at the Bombay high court, “Have you come for a fashion parade?” The lawyer’s words took me by surprise. Until then, I had not realised that wearing a comfortable sleeveless top could be construed as being ‘fashionable’. I ignored the comment, an art I’ve mastered  over five years of covering courts in the city. But what got my goat was that within minutes the same lawyer launched into a rant on ‘how to dress decently’, this time the barb directed at another reporter.

The person sitting next to me in court could be anyone — a criminal, a lawyer or a policeman. I don’t worry about who they are and what they wear, as long as propriety is maintained. I apply the same rule to myself. But one has learnt that not everyone follows this rule!

Another such incident was when a lawyer commented that a red T-shirt I was wearing was too ‘provocative’ for court. So, are journalists supposed to have a uniform, now?

A third lawyer simply took the cake. I was sitting on the stairs of the Sessions Court and chatting with friends when he marched up to us and remarked loudly, “How can these people be reporters when they don’t know how to behave? This is a violation of the Bombay Police Act... this is indecency in public.” Stunned into silence initially by this vague attack, I regained my composure so as not to burst out in anger. I politely asked him to mind his own business. Undeterred, the lawyer went on to call a couple of policemen standing at a tea-stall outside the court to arrest us. Unbelievably, the cops actually came and said, “Madam, chalo”. A fellow reporter lost her cool and gave both the lawyer and the policemen a piece of her mind.

The main issue with the lawyer was, not surprisingly, that there were two women and a man sitting together on the stairs which, according to him, was “not what people from decent families did”. We were too angry to let him get away with it, so we filed a non-cognisable complaint against him.

I’ve learnt many things on the job. Most importantly, I have learnt hat education does not open one’s mind…