Bad taste of apathy spills over into court

CHENNAI: It’s no surprise that our government machinery has a mechanical way of functioning. There are systems, rules and regulations – all of which make sure the machinery moves at a snail’s pace, and to make any changes to the said pace is a Herculean task.

Recently, a case at the Madras High Court was an example of the lackadaisical attitude of the certain law enforcement personnel. A petition came before the court asking for direction to the police department to stall a bull-taming event (Erudhuvidum Vizha) in the Anaicut area in Vellore district.

When the judge asked the respondent for their side, the Government Advocate’s (GA) submission surprised the court. FYI — while it’s the duty of the lawyer to represent his client to the best of his abilities, it’s also reliant upon the client’s cooperation. So, when the GA submitted that there was no instruction from the respondent (Vellore) police to appraise the court, it was anything but a typical day in court.

The judge asked him for an explanation, to which the GA informed that since the police force had gone on bandobast duty for the Chief Minister’s visit to Vellore on February 1, no cops were available to speak to him about the case. The HC, however, invalidated his reason, and chided the department for not deputing an officer to the court in the issue.

He also directed the Vellore Superintendent of Police to file a report for not deputing a policeman for this issue to the court. Well, if apathy of the government machinery is a systemic problem, the court certainly got a taste of it.