Solicitor General Tushar Mehta may be secretly writing humorous stories in court while judges continue flipping through bulky case briefs, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said in lighter vein on Sunday..The Chief Justice was speaking at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi during the launch of Mehta’s first two books, The Bench, the Bar and the Bizarre and The Lawful and the Awful.Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Attorney General R Venkataramani also addressed the event..“As I flipped through the pages of these two books, I found myself struck by one question over and over again: how on earth did Tushar Bhai find the time to pen these charming volumes in the first place?” Justice Kant said.The Chief Justice noted that Mehta spends his mornings in courtroom No.1 of the Supreme Court, his afternoons in other courts and government work, and evenings reading thousands of pages of case briefs.“So I tried to solve this mystery. I have two running theories. Either Tushar Bhai has successfully petitioned the Almighty for a 25th hour in the day and kept that order strictly for himself. Or perhaps he has discovered that the best time for comedic writing while sitting in courtroom No. 1. He knows the judges will keep flipping pages and pages of briefs, so he uses that time to pen down these memories. Believe me, my money is on the latter,” he remarked.Justice Kant said humour in courtrooms was not merely entertainment but also carried an educational value.“Humour here is not mockery but education. Tushar Bhai discovered beating hearts behind the robes,” he said..[Book Review]: The Bench, the Bar, and the Bizarre by Tushar Mehta: The absurd theatre of the legal profession.Justice Kant then shared several anecdotes from courtrooms. Recalling his early days at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, he said judges who had come on transfer from other High Courts created a healthy and lively atmosphere in court through humour and shayari.He narrated one incident where a disappointed lawyer thumped his file after losing a case. The judge called him back and recited a couplet advising him to remain patient because he would continue appearing before the same court repeatedly.The Chief Justice also recalled another exchange where a young lawyer passionately argued a matter but failed to convince the Bench. When the lawyer remarked that there may have been “something wrong with my communication,” the judge replied, “No, it is not communication alone. There is a problem with transmission also.”Justice Kant further narrated a famous anecdote involving British judge Lord Leach of the Madras High Court. During arguments, a donkey brayed nearby, prompting Lord Leach to remark, “Gentlemen, one at a time.” After the hearing ended and the judge began dictating the judgment, the donkey brayed again, following which the lawyer responded, “Can My Lord repeat the words, because the echoing was not clear?”The Chief Justice said such moments reflected the long tradition of wit and humour in courtrooms, something he said Mehta had attempted to capture through his books. .Mehta, the country’s longest-serving Solicitor General, said the books were “a collection of true stories” and not legal treatises or academic critiques..[Book Review] The Lawful and the Awful by Tushar Mehta: Quirky tales from the world of law.[Read Live Coverage]
