Chronicles Of An Unbailable Optimist: A Satirical Note From The Trenches Of Bihar

Was recently summoned—not by the court, mind you, but by destiny—to argue a pre-arrest bail matter under the PC Act in the noble trial courts of Bihar.

The client had received the honour of being summoned post-cognizance on a chargesheet. Being cautious creatures, we moved a pre-arrest bail under the illuminating glow of Satender Kumar Antil, armed with the Supreme Court's wisdom that courts ought not to behave like jail-brokers in robe.

Just before I was to unleash my well-prepared arguments, the local counsel—calm as a monk and blunt as a hammer—whispered, "Don't get your hopes up. Court's already denied 7-8 identical bails of co-accused." Apparently, the court was on a judicial losing streak.