Memoirs of a Lost World- 4

LAW

Our classes had begun in full flow. We were being introduced to the minute nuances of the Public Administration, Law, History, Computers, Management and Economics. Our course coordinator and her husband were both from the same cadre. While Sir used to join us on the morning jogging and PT, madam used to come before each class in the first week and introduce the teachers for the class, for the first time they took the class.

In law we had three faculty members, two from the legal field and one from the Administrative service. And all the teachers began their subjects, for example Dada Banerjee introduced Law, Criminal Procedure Code, Indian Penal Code and Indian Evidence Act to us. Our computer classes were very useful. Actually the courses were designed more to develop working efficiency instead of Pass it- Forget it Approach. The basics of Word, Power point and Excel taught to us meant that any communication which I really wanted to be confidential has remained as such in my career so far. Also the location of the computer classes was a fun journey. We had to pass a long distance down the slope covered with thick trees on two sides with a large number of monkeys sitting on them. And the teacher was a Bengali, I developed friendship with him quite early as he was keenly interested in West Bengal cadre probationers.

For management our Guru was an IAS officer with a degree in MBA who later joined the Office of the Prime Minister in his next posting. And our Economics Professor was the ‘cutest’ of them all. A bachelor of over 50 years of age, he had traveled extensively across the world. In the first week he had received the nickname ‘Ricardo’ for his oft quoting some economist by that name.

In the mean time we had become quite acquainted with our surroundings on and around the campus. But our second law class was to unfold before us as a revelation. During the introduction of Professor Banerjee to our class our teacher had already informed that Dada had been the most respected and preferred teacher amongst the officer trainees over the years. But the weekly session-wise feedback of our class had probably gone haywire somewhere, probably we had found LAW too theoretical or monotonous. But today I understand that like an ordinary Indian it was our lack of sensitivity to the law that had made our reaction so cold to the subject.

Today when I compare Civil Services to other careers there is atleast one very big edge that it offers and that is the freedom to act independently. Civil services were not something where dignity of individual and survival was to depend on the whims and fantasies of the boss. We were told that we were appointed by the President of India and he alone could remove us from duty. Rest all was excuses of the spineless or the corrupt to defend themselves. It was discussed amongst Officer Trainees that in our course team we had a lady officer who had welcomed the political master with her sandles for unbecoming behaviour and still such officers had managed to be the most effective officers in the service. But law was to be the base for the success in the service and when such team had felt perturbed by our feedback; there must have been reasons. For they were all taught by Dada and were his diehard fans first and students later.

So when Ma’am was back again with Professor for second time we realized that everything was not OK. The course coordinator made it clear to us that if Professor Banerjee could not develop our liking for law, none would. And that a large number of officers owed their success in career due to their knowledge of law and most credited it to our law teacher. When Professor Banerjee began the topic, he had changed the subject of the session. The topic selected was ‘Crime against women’ and it had set smiles on many a faces.

It was a one hour session during which we had covered the relevant sections of CrPC and IPC and some cases. We had traveled in an hour through the trauma of a rape victim, reluctance of the family and society to come out against the crime. Maladies and weaknesses of the law, role of medical reports, time delays in investigation and judgments, the role of the witnesses and the hostile witnesses along with the role of police, evidences were discussed. The coverage of the inquest of the dead body of a woman dead within seven years of her marriage was also explained, as we were to be directly involved in this as Executive Magistrates.

Professor Banerjee told that truth sits on the lips of a dying person, as he/ she can see the death from his eyes. So the dying declarations were very important to take the guilty to the gallows and for saving the lives of the innocent wrongly implicated. The procedural accuracy was very important otherwise the procedural mistake by a Magistrate could be used as a loophole in the law. Also recording dying declaration was crucial because any neglect or delay by the magistrate/ police or the doctor could mean that the victim may die before giving the statement. In one hour we were told so many things by our Professor who in his shear excitement was at times speaking the statements of some of the victims and at times shouting the call of the helpless to the public from the cases he must have handled first hand.

That one hour of our life, where we were taught by our Professor with tears on his eyelashes, had most of us stunned and shivering at times due to the excitement. We had grown in years, in age and in responsibility, in that one hour. We had matured as persons and had taken a giant step towards becoming the Magistrates. We were lucky to say the least. Law was no longer to remain bore and dull for us.