The Colaba Conspiracy

by Surender Mohan Pathak

  ‘Sir,’ Shah said, ‘as I said earlier, madam is my client …’

  ‘In what sense?’

  ‘You should have figured it out from her name. If not, then I have to tell you a long story.’

  ‘What did you say her name was?’

  ‘Sushmita Changulani,’ said Shah, stressing on the surname.

  ‘The live-in partner of the late Pursumal Changulani?’

  ‘No, the wife of the late Pursumal Changulani.’

  ‘But not according to the family!’

  ‘That is why they have committed excesses against her, thrown her out of the house, didn’t even let her take her personal belongings. They used force, which is a criminal offence. And when she went to the police station to register the fir, your sho, one Mr Devtale—Chandrakant Devtale—refused to register the complaint.’

  ‘When did she go to the police station?’

  ‘Today, but the officers there told her off and dismissed her.’

  ‘Hmm. The murder, as far as I can recall, happened last Saturday, on the sixteenth of this month. When did this excess you are talking about take place?’

  ‘On Monday, immediately after the last rites of the deceased.’

  ‘She went to the police station today, to register the fir for her forced ouster, for the atrocities committed against her. Where was she since Monday?’

  ‘She was here, in this very city. But she did not go to the police because she had been threatened by the family that if she approached the police, she would have to face dire consequences. I have even heard that your sho added his concurrence to the threat.’

  ‘Nonsense! That’s not possible.’

  ‘It is possible in this very corrupt world but who believes it!’

  ‘That’s a different matter. When she could not muster the courage to go to the police station the whole week, how come she went today?’

  ‘Because I was with her today.’

  ‘In what capacity?’

  ‘In the capacity of her legal counsel. I just told you that she is my client.’

  ‘The officers at the police station must have given some reason for not registering the fir?’

  ‘Yes, they did.’

  ‘What did they say?’

  ‘They said that her claim was wrong, fraudulent, malicious and motivated. They said that she was not the deceased’s wife, but live-in partner, and so she has no right over the deceased’s property.’

  ‘What’s wrong with this reason?’

  ‘Everything is wrong. This is a conspiracy against her—against a wife of seven months standing—and the reason is that the family does not want her to become a shareholder in the estate of the deceased.’

  ‘What can the mere wish of the family do? They must have some basis to negate her right as a wife—that is, if she was the wife.’

  ‘There is no basis, but now they have created some by virtue of physical force and threats.’

  ‘How is that?’

  ‘You seem to be aware of the case, you should know.’

  ‘Why don’t you tell me?’

  ‘Two witnesses of the marriage have been made to disappear, and another one has been persuaded to side with them to the extent that this one is ready to lie, to commit the offence of perjury in the court about the marriage. There was in existence a photo-album of the marriage which was destroyed before her eyes and the photographer who prepared it was forced to go into hiding by your own sho.’

  ‘This is an unsubstantiated allegation against the police. Can you prove it?’

  ‘I can by the statement of a witness, but I will present him before the court when the need arises.’

  ‘Why not before the police?’

  ‘Because if I do that, then he too will disappear—like the other missing witnesses.’

  ‘Nonsense! That’s not possible.’

  ‘Why is it not possible? How is it not possible? It is possible, and such things happen all the time. Police hobnob with criminals all the time, especially if they happen to be rich and influential. You belong to the top brass of the police. You must remember that in a high-profile case concerning a politician, eighty-eight witnesses changed their statements in court. All of them freely and fearlessly perjured in favour of the politician. And what happened in the Jessica Lal murder case? No one’s afraid of perjury. Everybody knows how witnesses are bought to retract from their previous statement in court when the case is related to some politicians’ or top police officers’ children …’

  ‘Mr Shah, please control your enthusiasm. You can’t say these things in front of a senior police officer. The instances that were not objected upon by the court must not be used by you to deface the police.’

  ‘I was just trying to answer your question.’

  ‘I am not ready to listen to an answer which defames the whole police force.’

  ‘Then please be ready to listen to what your duty mandates you to listen to.’

  ‘And what’s that?’

  ‘Your very own commissioner of police concedes that every citizen has the right to register an fir. And he asserts that no sho can refuse to register an fir. Am I wrong?’

  ‘N-no.’

  ‘Then why is it so that your own Colaba ps sho, sitting elsewhere in this very compound, refuses to register madam’s fir for the atrocities committed against her, for the terror let loose against her? Not only does he refuse to do so, he rebukes her, ill-treats here, and threatens her, all because he has been bought over by the other party.’

  ‘Mr Shah!’

  ‘Call him here this minute, and I will expose his real face before you within five minutes. I will see that he himself confesses that he …’

  ‘You will do no such thing. You can’t have your way with my officer, you can’t humiliate him. sho Devtale can’t be summoned here for your unjust cross-questioning.’

  ‘Not unjust, just …’

  ‘If it is just then the court is there for you. Raise the issue in the court.’

  ‘I will do exactly that. And I will take the same recourse for the fir after I get your answer whether you register it or not. If you say no, then the first thing I will do is file an application in the court that my client’s fir was not registered in Colaba police station, and it was done with the full knowledge of a senior police officer, dcp Ankush Jamwal. Your job is to ankush, to restrict and control the excesses, the high-handedness and illegal conduct of your subordinate officers. Be truthful to your name, Mr dcp.’

  The dcp shifted uncomfortably in his seat, then thought it over for some time.

  ‘There must be some misunderstanding,’ he finally said. ‘There could be a delay in registering the fir, but no one can deny it getting registered. There is a lot of workload at police stations. Sometimes a number of cases worth registering firs pile up. In that case, filing firs may take time. This is what must have happened in madam’s case and you took delay for denial. After all, you are a lawyer, and you lawyers are used to jumping to conclusions,’ he emitted a shallow laugh, ‘no?’

  ‘So what’s the order for us?’

  ‘Leave madam behind at the police station. I will make sure that her fir is registered.’

  ‘I can’t do that.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Without me, she’s not safe in the police station.’

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘What you heard. Your sho will vent his anger against her by keeping her here till late in the night; he’ll take ten hours to do something that needs ten minutes. He may even ask her to come again the next day.’

  ‘Procedurally, there is nothing unfair in it.’

  ‘It is harassment, straight and simple.’

  ‘But no one is coercing her to go through that.’

  ‘If a task that takes minutes is delayed intentionally, then it is nothing but coercing somebody to bear the harassment.’

  ‘I don’t want to argue with you …’

  ‘I myself don’t want to argue with you. Sir, you
were asking questions, and I was giving the answers. You were seeking clarifications and I was making them. I can’t help it if you term it argument.’

  ‘What do you want now?’

  ‘I want that her fir against the Changulani family be registered here and now, and in my presence.’

  ‘I wanted to avoid saying this but you have compelled me to say it, Mr Shah, that you are crossing the line and acting too important. And you are misguiding madam. I don’t know whether she has told you or not, but let me tell you, that she could be arrested

  any time.’

  ‘For what crime?’

  ‘For a serious crime! For the crime of murder!’

  ‘So, I was wrong when I said that you seemed to be just aware of the case. Now I am convinced that you are in complete knowledge of the case. You know what is there and you also know what is not there.’

  ‘What do you mean by “what is not there”?’

  ‘My indication is to the tactics that the police are planning to employ to break her into submission.’

  ‘If you think so, then that moment can be here this minute.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘She will stay here. You can go.’

  ‘Are you arresting her?’

  ‘Obviously, for I have no intentions of giving her a treat, or organizing a civil felicitation ceremony for her.’

  ‘Good, please do arrest her, so that my work becomes easier.’

  ‘Your work will become easier?’

  ‘Yes, my work as her lawyer will be easier then. You would have to present her in court within twenty-four hours of the arrest. If you do not, I will file a habeas corpus writ in the court. And you will see what I do when she is presented in court, how I’ll blow your murder case frame-up to pieces before the judge.’

  ‘Mr Shah, you are making a mountain out of a molehill. You are flitting here and there, ignoring the main issue, like a typical lawyer. The main issue is the fir which you want to register. Let me say this, it will be registered, but as per the procedure, not according to your whims and fancies. Please go to the police station if you accept that and wait for your turn. You can insist on staying with your client but in that case, you too will have to wait. We can’t speed up the procedure just for you. And the wait could be long, could be very long. I think I have resolved your complaint now, that the police officers at the station house were not registering your fir. I assure you that now you won’t have this complaint. Now the decision lies with you, whether you want to register the fir, or file a complaint in the court. And please keep one thing in mind while going for the second option. The court is not going to hang us for not registering the fir. It will only issue an order directing us to register the fir. You can happily take the long route for a thing which could be done directly, in lesser time. After all you are a big lawyer, you can’t do anything in a simple manner. To highlight your greatness, you must do everything in a grand and spectacular way, no?’

  ‘I liked your speech, Mr Jamwal. It seemed as if I was face-to-face with a big lawyer in some big court. The two options suggested by you are well and good, but you forgot one more option. Please permit me to make a mention of that too.’

  ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘If a written application for the registration of an fir is filed through a lawyer, then the presence of the applicant is not necessary, but he or she can be summoned to the police station any time for further questioning; am I right?’

  ‘Yes. So?’

  ‘So this,’ Shah opened his briefcase and placed a foolscap sheet of paper in front of the dcp, ‘is madam’s written complaint, and her application for the registration of an fir. Please accept it, since it is addressed to you.’

  ‘Why is it addressed to me? It must be addressed to the sho.’

  ‘What’s the problem if it is addressed to you?’

  ‘There’s no question of a problem, the question is …’

  ‘I wanted to avoid saying it, but let me repeat what you said to me. Mr Jamwal, now you are crossing the line and acting too important. Every government officer is a public servant. He can’t refuse to accept any communication related to his department. If you refuse to accept this application of my client then I will go to the commissioner’s office, which is not too far from here. I will get it received there and they will happily receive it. And I will also add the reason for submitting it there, that the commissioner had to be approached because the dcp of the district concerned not only refused to take it, but also expressed his anger over the fact that the application was addressed to him.’

  The dcp stared speechlessly at Shah.

  ‘Nice meeting you, sir,’ Shah said, getting up, as Sushmita too got up with him, ‘thank you for giving us your valuable time.’

  ‘My pa is sitting outside,’ the dcp said. ‘Give it to him and he will give you a signed and stamped copy as acknowledgment of the receipt.’

  ‘Thank you, sir. So kind of you, sir.’

  Both of them bowed their heads and left.

  ‘I was terrified,’ Sushmita said outside, ‘when the dcp talked about my immediate arrest.’

  ‘My dear,’ Shah said in a worried tone, ‘that sword is still hanging over your head. It is well within their jurisdiction to arrest anyone, even without a proper reason. They will arrest you whenever they feel like it. And that moment can come very soon, considering the heated exchange of words we had with the dcp.’

  ‘God!’

  ‘But don’t worry, they can arrest you, but can’t keep you arrested. I meant it when I told the dcp that your arrest would make things easier for me. My arena is the court, not the police station. You will understand why Gunjan Shah is Gunjan Shah when you see me performing there.’

  ‘But the arrest …’

  ‘You have to bear it. But believe me, it is a small inconvenience. One has to endure the pain of the injection to get an ailment cured, no? You must take the arrest just like the pain of the injection, ok?’

  Sushmita nodded hesitatingly.

  ‘However, I am happy that the work for which we had come here is done. Now I will try that the police files the charge sheet on the basis of your fir as soon as possible.’

  ‘What if that doesn’t happen?’

  ‘Then I will file an application in the sessions court requesting a speedy hearing. I will have to frame a story worth hearing in the court, but luckily I have enough free time tomorrow which I can use to concoct the story.’

  ‘Great!’

  ‘Now, you stop worrying. You are Gunjan Shah’s client so it goes without saying that you are innocent and in the end you

  will win.’

  ‘Thank you, sir.’

  ‘You are not ungrateful, right?’

  ‘Oh no, sir. I will be very grateful, grateful from the bottom of my heart.’

  ‘I will be very glad to see the bottom of your heart. Let’s go now.’

  Sushmita got into the car with Shah.

  Ashok and Alok Changulani were sitting in their father’s Lamington Road office. Outside, the staff were busy closing up the store when Ashok suddenly caught a glimpse of Arthur Finch’s huge body near the cosmetics’ display. Standing there, his eyes were scanning the store and Ashok knew he was searching for him.

  Ashok sprang from his chair and rushed out.

  The elder brother watched him going with surprise in his eyes.

  Ashok went to Finch and escorted him by the arm out of sight under the cover of a tall display rack.

  ‘I said I’d come Saturday,’ Finch said dryly. ‘Didn’t I then?’

  ‘Yes,’ Ashok said with difficulty, trying hard to hide his fear.

  ‘What happened in court?’

  ‘Nothing, the proceedings will continue in the next hearing.’

  ‘Tomorrow is Sunday, so do you mean something will happen on Monday?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘The judge has postponed the case for two weeks.’

  ‘
What nonsense!’

  ‘No nonsense. We are not going to wait for two weeks.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘We are not going to sit and wait for two weeks. We will do something in the meantime.’

  ‘What will you do?’

  ‘We will do something so that the case is handed over to the sessions court for hearing as soon as possible. The police are with us, and they are also making an effort to make this happen fast.’

  ‘What effort?’

  ‘Our adversary will be under arrest by tomorrow or the day after. Her boyfriend will also be arrested. Both of them will be charged for murder, and the public prosecutor will file the case in the sessions court by Tuesday or Wednesday. The hearing will take place the very next day, as new cases are not delayed in the sessions court.’

  ‘Hmm. What else?’

  ‘The prosecution attorney today was weak. Our adversary had a big-shot lawyer, and our lawyer could not counter him well, that’s why we failed to get things done at the civil court. But that won’t happen in the sessions court. We have asked our people in the police to field a reputed lawyer from the panel of public prosecutors.’

  ‘So, do you mean to say that I have to wait till Thursday now?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Well, I am not willing to wait that long.’

  ‘There is no other option.’

  ‘Hmm. You sure you’re not giving me a run-around?’

  ‘No! Never! Believe me, a lot of work is being done on the case. We are more eager to settle the succession than you.’

  ‘I can’t wait that long. I have to go back.’

  ‘I told you that you can go back. I will return once I successfully claim the inheritance.’

  ‘No, that’s out of the question.’

  ‘So then?’

  ‘I’ll wait and watch.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Don’t, because if I come to know that you are giving me a run-around, I’ll kill you with my bare hands.’

  Ashok shivered like a leaf.

  Finch poked Ashok in the chest with his thick index finger, gave him a meaningful look, turned back, and left.

  Sunday: 24 May

  The police arrested Sushmita on Sunday morning, at 11 a.m.