Litigants follow superstitions, litter Chandigarh District Court premises with rice

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Chandigarh, July 17

For some litigants having faith in law is not enough. The District Court Chandigarh has been witnessing superstitious acts of such litigants, who at times do bizarre things with the false hope that it may help them to get the verdict in their favour.

One such incident of superstitious activity was reported last week when staff members of a court and public noticed scattered rice behind a door in a courtroom. A sanitation worker was called and the area was got cleaned. Employees of the court say scattered rice, red threads, lemons and red chilies are a common sight and practice in the District Court.

A similar incident was reported in the past also when Additional Session Judge, Chandigarh, let off a woman with a warning after she was caught for scattering rice at the entrance door of the court.

The matter was brought to the notice of the Additional Session Judge by the staff members of the court and some counsel present in the court for hearing. They had noticed the scattered rice in the morning. The court directed staff of the court to check with the CCTV operator of the court complex to find out as to who had done this mischief by scattering rice in the courtroom. After verification from the CCTV camera footage of the court complex, it was found that a woman who had appeared in the courtroom was seen standing close to the place where the rice grains were found.

The accused had been facing trial in the same court in a case registered against her under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and 323, IPC. The case was registered against her on the complaint of her husband for repeatedly beating her daughter born from his first marriage. The husband said he had married the accused after the death of his first wife.

The court asked the woman in the presence of her counsel, additional public prosecutor, staff and other advocates present why she had committed the act. She accepted that she had committed the act in the courtroom and started feeling apologetic. Her counsel also prayed for leniency attributing this to her unawareness and illiteracy for doing such an act. The accused later submitted a written apology.

Following this, the court let off the woman with a warning to remain vigilant in future.

Rajesh Kumar, advocate of the District Court Bar Association, said, “Superstitions have existed in every society throughout history. But there is a need to make people aware of the fact that such things have no role in the justice delivery system.”

Such practices common in dist court

One such incident of superstitious activity was reported last week when staff members of a court and public noticed scattered rice behind a door in a courtroom. Employees of the court say scattered rice, red threads, lemons and red chilies are a common sight and practice in the District Court.