Chappal attack on
Justice Arijit Pasayat

Der aayad, durust aayad. Someone had to do it. Zahira Sheikh could not do it. Justice Pasayat is the favourite judge of the secular brigade and has often come up with twisted interpretations of the law to serve his personal agenda, and that of his celebrity friends.

It was a woman who hurled her sandal at the judge. There is a dispute if the sandal hit the judge or he ducked it in time the George Bush way.  The woman claims that the sandal surely hit the judge. She demanded that this fact be put on record. She wanted it to be known to the posterity that a Supreme Court judge by the name Arijit Pasayat was subjected to such humiliation by a woman petitioner. She must be convinced beyond doubt that Pasayat deserved such treatment to insist upon the recording of this seemingly minor detail.

Pasayat was in a hurry to send the offender to prison on contempt charges but was prevented by his fellow judge, Justice A.K. Ganguly, who felt that such a verdict should not be given in haste and the Court should find out the reasons behind  such an act. Pasayat is known to bamboozle his fellow judges into following his line of reasoning. He had done it in the Zahira Sheikh case as well. He did not succeed this time though.

Now, the matter will be placed before a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice for a final call on Monday 23/3/09. Whatever be the final verdict of the court, one wonders if Justice Pasayat deserves to be a Supreme Court judge after this incident. Will he resign? Suppose he is shameless enough not to resign, will it not compromise the reputation of the highest court of justice in the land to have a ‘chappalkhor’ judge on its benches?

Justice Arijit Pasayat cannot be called honourable after this incident, not if we go by the established social norms. Just imagine a situation where he walks by a group of people and someone recognises him and whispers, ‘Dekho woh judge ja raha hai jis ko ek aurat ne chappal se maara tha.’  However hard Justice Pasayat tries to defend himself, he is a tainted and stigmatized judge now. He has been meted out the ultimate humiliation and the only honourable thing to do for him is to resign and retire. Unfortunately, he will not be happy in his retirement on account of the injustice he has done to Zahira Sheikh and the accused in the Best Bakery case at the behest of a few wily secularists. Unki haai to lagegi hi judge saheb ko.

Chappal Chalao Campaign (3C)

Chappals are the ultimate weapon of a common man’s protest against a corrupt establishment provided they are used with conviction and not out of impulsive outrage over some minor issue. If you are convinced that a government official is corrupt and his decisions are outright biased and unjust, use this weapon. Don’t use it against a goon. Use it against the so called honorable men and women who purvey falsehood behind the veneer of civilized behavior. And remember, it is a psychological weapon of symbolic protest, not meant to inflict physical hurt to anyone. The speed at which you throw it is not important. You simply have to establish that a Chappal was hurled at the subject and that will suffice. Make sure that the word spreads. Your victory lies in that.

The woman who hurled her sandals at Pasayat will go smiling all the way to jail, immensely pleased with herself. She has expressed her contempt for Pasayat in as lethal a manner as possible.  She can hold her head high in front of Pasayat. It is Pasayat who will have to look for a ‘patali gali’ to avoid facing that woman. Pasayat ki saat pushtein yaad rakhengi yeh bhayankar apmaan. That is why I say ‘chappals’, ‘jootas’, ‘sandals’, and ‘hawais’ should be used as the ultimate weapon of protest and against those who move around as civilized and honorable individuals but are actually the scum of the Earth.