(22nd NOVEMBER, 2019)

The 22nd of November, 2019 would have been any other ordinary day for the students pursuing Legal Studies in Class XI B, if our teachers, Mrs. Manisha Ajmera Ma’am and Mr. Nikunj Aggarwal Sir had not organised the rare opportunity for us to embark on a visit to the Calcutta High Court.

The High Court, a gigantic and intimidating red-bricked structure fashioned with Victorian features, was certainly a majestic sight to behold. The visit was organised in cooperation with Kunal Dey, an ex-student of The Future Foundation School, and Judicial Research Assistant to Honourable Justice Harish Tandon, who ensured that we were able to view a few court proceedings, as well as personally interact with some esteemed judges of the High Court.

Upon our entrance into the main building, we were ushered into a court room, and found ourselves being directly able to witness the court proceedings of various cases judged by Judge Swagato Bhattacharyya, which included disputes regarding the suicide of a petitioner’s daughter due to blackmail, the murder of another such petitioner’s son and a discourse regarding the possession of a certain piece of land.

We were encouraged to take notes regarding these cases, which helped us get a clearer perspective on the situations.

After that, the students were split into two groups – one group was taken to view a few court proceedings by the honourable Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, Shri Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan himself, while the other group was able to witness another interesting discourse (second appeal) in honourable Justice Harish Tandon’s court room.

We also interchanged students between each groups, so we could experience both the proceedings ourselves.

We also witnessed a commercial court proceeding supervised by Judge Sanjib Banerjee.

After our court visits, we visited the chamber where all appeals made in court cases were stored, and were enthralled by the humongous store of physical files that were heaped in shelves. The personnel in charge of maintaining these appeal folders were immensely kind, and answered our questions regarding their work in simple terms, and provided us with an understanding of the machinations of a part of law that didn’t occur in courtrooms.

Directly after this, we were taken for a personal session with two esteemed judges of the High Court – Judge Shekhar B. Saraf and Judge Pratik Prakash Banerjee. Both judges were highly cordial in receiving us, and answered our questions for them. Some such questions were our inquiries regarding the path and hurdles in law, as a career, with their additional opinions in certain areas and their experiences, while other questions were more general and meant to clear our doubts regarding case studies, and matters of legal concern (eg. Uniform Civil Code, family law, etc.). Both of them even offered the promise of assistance in the future, if either of us do embark on the path of law.

Visits such as this, are a great necessity for students to experience a subject, in a way that theoretical knowledge cannot provide, especially when it comes to such a diverse and practical-based topic like Law. Being able to witness such proceedings was truly an enriching experience for the students who have pursued Legal Studies, that is sure to have provided us with a wider perspective regarding the subject."