criminal courts
well this is the second part of my court diaries as it were...
this time to the criminal courts, situated at nampally, hyderabad.
the hierarchy for reference's sake...in the ascending order as it were...
judicial magistrate of first class and second class[ a minor difference being in the number of years if imprisonment they can award...], the chief judicial magistrate or metropolitan judicial magistrate[ if a metropolis], the court of sessions at the district level, the high court and finally the supreme court.
the court in question, like in the civil court, is a building consisting of courtrooms right from the lowest- first class judicial magistrate until the court of sessions.... basically dealing with the district courts and lower[ confusin?!?!]
my first experience and observations...well...
a sea of humanity and therefore very crowded...mostly men[ criminals,police and advocates]... dirty, dusty and dingy... if shakespeare were to describe the building it would be something such... " the court building is a trash can, and each wall a spittoon "[ a la "the world's a stage blah blah blah...]:)vendors selling peanuts in the court building
i did not even venture out to visit the loo in this court... its anybody's guess:)
unlike in the civil court where we could walk and talk freely, here honestly we all were a little unnerved... from hardened criminals- brash and insensitive to the first time offenders- meek and/ fearless... varying emotions at play..
i had witnessed a variety of proceedings... a murder trial[ where the accused was indeed guilty yet chances are he'l be acquitted due to lack of evidence!], a rape trial wherein a married lady was raped by six idiotic hulks... [ very unnerving- 6 huge assholes raping one meek lady... scary!]a drug case[ running into crores- all by very accomplished gold medalists!?!?], a kidnap cum assault case and finally a maintenance petition by hapless parents deserted by their ward!
the whole experience was quite depressing , in a nut shell...
considering that criminal law is my area of interest, i wonder if i will ever fit the bill! i hope i do, someday.
