The Anatomy of Truth: In conversation with Senior Advocate Anil Kumar Bhattacharya

INTERVIEW

"You come to my house tomorrow at 4:30" he said in a voice that was crisp, clear and commanding. I hung up, muttering to myself; no way was he eighty two years old. I had never met Senior Advocate Anil Kumar Bhattacharya, but had only heard about him. His judicial acumen, sense of justice, integrity of character is something of a legend in the hallowed corridors of Justice.

For close to half a century, fifty two years to be exact, he has navigated the legal landscape of this country with his immeasurable intelligence, jurisprudential dexterity and legerdemain acuity. A rare feat given today's times, where ideas emerge and fade away in a miniscule moment. The point is, it is impossible to assess the man, unless you have met him.

So at 4:30 sharp I rang the doorbell to his house. The door was promptly opened by his domestic help who ushered me inside. Anil Bhattacharya stood waiting for me in the living room, an incipient smile playing on his lips. Tall and thinly built, he had snow white hair, wore thick framed glasses and was dressed in a light green kurta and a white pajama. His face had soft creases which spoke not of age but of a life spent in the pursuit of knowledge. His skin radiated in the fading light of the evening that seemed to be fighting a losing battle with the descending darkness. The fluorescent lamp came up ending this duel, as we settled down.

I handed him a book I bought. He inspected it with keen eyes and remarked "I know you will like it …the gift I have kept for you". The early part of his career was spent in Dhubri. In the year 1970 this sleepy town in lower Assam was the scene of a sensational quadruple murder. Retired District and Session Judge, Upandra Nath Rajkhowa had murdered his wife and three daughters. It was the case that took Assam by storm, the reverberations of which are still felt. Anil Bhattacharya was the junior to Advocate Tara Majumdar who defended Rajkhowa. It was concerning this case that I had come to meet him.

"I will tell you about the case", he said "But before that you need to listen to this". Heaving a sigh he narrated to me a few bittersweet experiences he had while he went about distributing the ten volume collection of articles written by his late father. A school principal made him wait for an hour before granting him an interview, that too for ten minutes, a renowned writer of Assam never made the promised call, while someone who was part of the highest echelons of power in the state came by his house to collect the books when he called seeking appointment.

"You must be thinking why I am telling you this…" he said in a firm voice "It's nothing related to what you have come for. But the point I am trying to make is how varied is human nature"

It was then it struck me. I was sitting in front of a man, who had spent his entire life studying the nuances of the human psyche. Being a criminal lawyer, had witnessed the meanest of human behavior. In other words, he had seen the worst in man. So, when he speaks about human nature, it is not just an offhand remark rather it's an informed opinion based on a lifetime of experiences.

"Criminals are not born" he remarked "It is the circumstances that make them do what they have done." To illustrate this point he narrated to me a case of a Santhal youth who had murdered his wife and his daughter. But when the context of the cases was revealed, everything took on a completely different contour. "Crime is created by society" he adds. "You cannot conduct a trial without weighing the accused and the victim on a human scale…who knows if I am placed in the same situation I won't commit the same crime"

It is for this very reason he is totally against the death penalty. He himself saw through four death sentences in his life. "Giving a death sentence…does it translate to lesser crime?" he questions. He is of the opinion that life sentences are a bigger punishment than death. "As per law, death sentences are to be considered in the rarest of the rarest cases…but one also has to take into account the circumstances and situation in which the accused was placed" In a recent review by the highest court, a case in which nine persons were hanged, was later accepted as a mistake.

The judiciary, from the lowest to the highest level, is manned by humans and humans can commit mistakes. "I am not criticizing any individual" he cautions "But the system…and I am of the firm belief that system can be changed." His positivity has a contagious appeal "I wouldn't hesitate to send my daughter out with a criminal…because I have understood the context of his or her crime" His deep belief in the basic core of human rectitude, in spite of witnessing from close quarters the basest of their act brings to the forefront one emotion that had sustained humans down the ages…Hope.

In the backdrop of today's discourse of truth being restructured as post truth and mutilated in varied ways I ask him "What is truth?" A K Bhattacharya replies "Anything rooted to humanity…is close to truth"

He recounts the advice his father gave him, at beginning of his legal career "He told me in no uncertain terms…look son, this profession will give you a privileged position in society…but the day you are scared to say that milk is white…throw that black coat of yours in the Brahmaputra and come to me"

As I left his house, two lines from the maestro's song played in my ears "If man doesn't think of man, who will…if the devil becomes man, shouldn't we all be ashamed" Anil Kumar Bhattacharya lived these lines. In his own words "Why can't we see a person for what he or she is…a human?"

By: Emon NC

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