The Unventured Passions

The Courtroom Quandary

The courtroom was lit in lamp-light glow, electric rays spreading as petals upon the walls. This wasn't Batakrishna's first time in this or any courtroom, yet he was amazed at how much wood there was.  They must have cut down an entire forest for justice! There were wooden benches, the walls had wooden panels, the judge and jury boxes were polished wood too, although the chair seats were upholstered in red leather. Batuk gaped at the sheer sight of the uncanny that the place had to offer.
The fluorescent lights on the ceiling glared so intensely that they erased the shadows on faces; the bailiff, court recorder, and judge had an eerie sameness as if they were hiding behind the mask of justice, as Batuk sat in the second row on the left side facing the judge. Beside him was Bondita. She was sitting with the same stiffness, clutching his right palm in her hands, as she would do on the report card day when they were children.
The thought made Batuk smile.

"Order... The court is in session!"
The abrupt sound of the gavel banging on the judge's table tore the veil of his reminisces.

"It would be our turn soon."
Bondita murmured to his ears, her voice restless, and she continued to squeeze his palm with all her might.

Good, atleast she isn't biting her nails off like before!
Batuk thought, before his focus shifted to his big brother, proud in his legal black robe, once again ready to slay the devils of the society with his heavy sword of justice. 

The day had rolled as per the law of time,  the first half being handled by Barrister Anirudh Roy Chowdhury with spectacular expertise, and now this post lunch session would determine the finality of what lies in the fate of twenty young men accused for their devotion to their motherland.

"Mi-lord, my able colleague here, with absolute literary perfection, is trying to dramatise how these twenty young men had committed unpardonable treason to the British Raj..." Anirudh bowed before the white skinned judge, and then had turned to the opposition attorney Barrister Simpson, beginning his opening summarisation of the proceedings of the first half.
"But, let me remind the court that the law understands no language but the language of proof, evidence and reason, which my colleague here has clearly failed to provide."

"Objection, mi-lord!" Barrister Simpson shouted at once, and the judge nodded at him.

"Sustained... Barrister Roy Chowdhury, you are to refrain from using such defining remarks for the opposition."

Bondita flinched her face and Batuk fisted on the wooden handle of the desk, as they both saw Anirudh smile politely at the judge.

"Sorry, Mi-lord... It's just that the lack of actual evidence bothers me to the extent of questioning if my able opposition is even prepared for this trial." He chuckled, turning the red faced attorney even redder.

"Objection!" He screamed, and Anirudh received another warning from the judge.

"What is he doing!!" Batuk was restless, and Bondita moved their joined hands to her forehead, muttering a prayer to the goddess.

"He's inciting the opposition lawyer to commit a mistake, his old strategy Batuk." She murmured back, and it made Batuk exhale a long held breath.

"To begin, once again, as why these men are innocent of the charges put against them, I'd first like to highlight as how RayBahadur Neelmoni Mukherjee framed them to veil his own misdoings, which I would like to term as 'Treason'!"
He paused and looked at the hopeful eyes of the men seated behind the iron grills at on corner of the courtroom, guarded by seven armed prison officers.

Anirudh continued.
"As I've mentioned before, I have complete evidence and witnesses to prove the fact that Neelmoni Mukherjee was involved in smuggling the medicinal drugs and armoury that were shipped from England for the British troops here in Calcutta." He paused, passing a chargesheet to the bailiff, who in turn passed it to the white wigged old judge.