Reporter’s Diary: “It appears” KV Viswanathan has a nuanced argument

Reporter’s Diary is a series that brings you interesting snippets from court hearings across the country. It attempts to offer our readers a glimpse into casual interactions between judges and lawyers appearing in cases..With the Delhi High Court likely to pronounce its verdict in the petitions challenging the disqualifications of 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs today, an amusing anecdote that defused the otherwise tense proceedings comes to mind..Appearing for the Election Commission (EC) in the petitions, Amit Sharma had just finished his arguments. Concluding the eleven-day hearing, counsel for the petitioners and Senior Advocate KV Viswanathan made his closing arguments before the Delhi High Court Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar..Viswanathan explained how the words, “it appears” used by the EC in its recommendation to the President could actually mean “lag raha hai” or “shayad” in Hindi, and therefore suggest “inconclusiveness” on the part of the EC in concluding that the MLAs suffered disqualification..He followed it up with an anecdote relating to Field Marshal KM Cariappa’s inadequate knowledge of Hindi, which was one reason many people called him a Brown Sahib..Viswanathan narrated how Cariappa, during a visit to the forward areas soon after Independence, had to address the troops. He wanted to tell them that now the country was free, and so were all of them. He told them thus:.“Is waqt aap muft, hum muft, mulk muft, sab kuchh muft hai.” .(The word muft in Hindustani means free of cost or gratis. The word ‘azad’ which is the exact equivalent of ‘independence’, was the appropriate word in this context). .The anecdote led to instant laughter in the courtroom. The implication of sharing the anecdote could be that the EC used the wrong word “it appears” as its exact Hindi equivalent, and actually weakened its case..Justice Chander Shekhar responded to the counsel’s attempt to send a nuanced message through the anecdote thus:.“Mr Viswanathan, we will also examine what “It appears” would mean in Tamil.”