‘TALK TIME’

Recently a Supreme Court judge expressed concern about the huge time taken by lawyers in making oral submissions. The judge, in one case, fixed the time scheduled for each lawyer to argue their matter. The judge deplored the practice of arguments going on for hours in a single case and sought to be enlightened if there was any other country which allowed this practice. This is Raju Z. Moray's poetic take inspired by this incident.

——

Milords committed

What's almost a crime

By asking Men in Black

To restrict talk time.

In a firm bid to tackle

The problem of arrears

Milords have erected

Some time barriers.

Adopting foreign tips

For speeding up cases

Milords put new ideas

Before grumpy old faces.

By seeking citations

Relevant and recent

Milords did nothing

Remotely indecent.

But those who love

Hearing their own voice

Are not too happy

With Milords' choice.

They love our tradition

Of date after date

And a comfortable life

Hanging on client's fate.

In this noble profession

We treasure our nobility

Hoary traditions help

To cover lack of ability.

The fuel in our practice

(More than half the fun)

Is taking the client for a ride

As long as our meter can run.

(Raju Z. Moray is a Mumbai-based lawyer who enjoys writing poems. He is the author of two books 'Court Jester', 2017 and 'The Locked Down Lawyer', 2020.)