JOIN USSenior counsel Mukul Rohtagi was sternly told by the vacation bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and Deepak Verma that he cannot dictate the court as to what orders it has to pass.
Rohtagi evoked the court’s ire when he insisted that the matter relating to the closure direction issued by the Delhi High Court to private nursing homes “has to be heard” by the apex court for staying the same.
“You cannot tell us that it has to be heard,” Justice Katju retorted, and cautioned the counsel that he cannot quarrel with the bench.
The bench then went on to narrate an anecdote in which a person told his friend about the bravado of his father who fought with a tiger. When the friend asked him as to what happened to his father after the fight, the latter replied that he was gobbled up by the animal.
“So if you fight with judge, you will be gobbled up. So, don’t fight with a judge,” the bench told Rohtagi who agreed and said “I humbly request your lordships!”
In another case, Justice Katju while refusing to stay the conviction of a person in a corruption case likened the malaise to Kumbhakarna’s refusal to fight Lord Rama until he had to be told sternly by demon-king Ravana. Reciting Sanskrit versions of Valmiki’s Ramayana, the judge said a person coming before the court after being caught red-handed in a corruption case is like Kumbhakarana gulping down tonnes of food and enjoying six months slumber at Ravana’s hospitality.
But when it came to the question of fighting the battle with Rama, Kumbhakarna initially refused to do so citing the impropriety of Ravana’s action, the judge recalled.
“In your case also, you were caught red-handed while taking bribe. But now you say you are innocent,”the bench remarked.