Suspended judgement

A special bench comprising judges K S Radhakrishnan and J S Khehar was hearing the contempt petition filed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) against two Sahara group companies. As part of the argument, the Sebi counsel filed a full-page newspaper advertisement put out by the group after the court order in August 2012 to refund the money it had collected. The ad had the image of Bharat Ma on four lions, gave various details about the case and went on to say, "All the depositors need not worry about anything." The judges read the ad with interest and Radhakrishnan's face curved into a smile when the counsel read the line saying, "Of course we shall never blame the respected Judges of our beloved country. It is the machinery that presents facts incorrectly...." To much laughter in the courthouse, the judge said: "They have not said anything against us and they will not, at least till the case is over!"