Remembering My First Court Case, Part Eight

..............Judge reminded her to stick on what she had in her initial complain letter and stop meddling with other issues. With that judge once again turned towards the lady and asked her for the last time: "Zhen Lap ne yoe ga?" Finally to my relief she said: Mee la.

With that, the Judge spoke..........

Continued.........

and he spoke without any hesitation. As the judge prepared to announce his decision, I sensed the ward lady shiver. In her sheer desperateness I saw her eyes welled with tears.

And then came the words of the Judge.  Turning towards the lady, he asked: 'Did you realize what wrong you did?'. He paused for a while...... When there was no response from the lady, he then continued: 'this problem had arisen, all because of what you have done. And those things which you have done were all beyond your duty. As a ward lady, whose duty was to maintain cleanliness and guard the doors, you had no reason, what so ever to frequent patients and scold or exercise your control over them'........In between the Judge asked her: 'how many times have you come to the court? ...........and looks like you are the real problem everywhere'

With those words from the Judge, I felt the anxieties and traumas that had so long accumulated in my heart slowly shed. For the first time in over three months, I felt the sweetness in the fragrance of air and the brightness in the day, I felt my heart floating, weightless..............

And the Judge continued further:...... 'People working in the hospital, have a moral obligation to support and show compassion to those sick and needy people and that any form of abuse against them is unlawful'.........With that the Judge was also swift in reprimanding the ward lady for being over zealous. The Judge not only warned her of the consequences of threat call but also reminded her of her official misconduct. After that, Judge ordered us to leave the room and meet the clerk in the office.

By then, I sensed how worried my plaintiff was, -she had played all her cards!. With every passing minute in the court room, she was nearing to taste the bitter aara she brewed herself. How pathetic that she wold he soon hanged with her own noose!!!

At first my heart melted with satisfaction. It bought me pleasure beyond description. I saw my soaring arrogant plaintiff finally being reduced to size of a grasshopper!. Her bitter figure reminded me of two insects that I hated the most, -the house fly and the mosquito. I really wanted her to fall on to her knees! I wanted her to explode in tears!. I wanted her the feel the the same old feeling she made me feel!. All those miserable moments came rushing through my mind like rewinding a movie, - my wife in pain, my broken mother-in-law, my helpless sister, my perplexed father-in-law, my innocent grandmother and finally my wretched self, busy tending to police, day in and day out. 

Once in the clerks room, the clerk told me that, since she was not able to prove anything from her complaint , it was up to me to take the next step, -counter charge her for defamation, libel, threat call, official misconduct and for all the inconveniences caused thereafter. It was a moment of mending my broken heart and I wanted it to be done by buttering it first. I felt the tears of truth and justice oozing out from my eyes uncontrollably. With an outburst of my passion, I told the clerk that I was willing to go to any height to have her doomed. I told him that I want to prove to her that I am stone that is hard and a metal that clangs!! 

With that emotional outburst, the clerk reminded us of our lunch time. But he however he reminded us to come to office before it closes in the evening. 

I stayed back and did't go for lunch. I took a shade under a peach tree and contemplated on the matter. I called up my wife and updated her about the case and  told her that I was going to do the same thing to her. But to my revelation, my wife told me otherwise! -an eye for an eye will leave both blind!

I thought about it for hours and finally decided to side my wife. I went to the court in the evening and told the clerk that I wished to end the case there and that I don't desire to harass a poor lady. To that effect I wrote a final application to the court expressing my desire to end the matter. 

In the mean time, my opponent arrived. She appeared more exhausted and worried than ever. Her fragile body was barely able to withstand the gushing afternoon winds of Thimphu. She was almost near her breakdown point. But I had a good news for her. I told her that I am not going to pursue the case any further. She smiled at last. I told her not bring any more people to the court hereafter. 

That evening, I went home happy and I sent another soul happy home. I didn't even know who actually won the case.

END.

Tashi delek