PTI

Mumbai/ New Delhi, Sep 25: : A thing as trivial as wearing or non-wearing a dupatta can lead to a bitter legal battle, Justice Arijit Pasayat of Supreme Court told an amused audience at a function here recently.

Pasayat was addressing a gathering of judicial officers and lawyers after inaugurating a one-day workshop on Alternative Dispute Redressal, organised by the Bombay High Court and Small Cause Court Bar Association on Saturday.

Talking about how often an ego hassle leads to a protracted litigation, Justice Pasayat narrated an anecdote from his days as High Court judge in Orissa.

He was hearing a case that involved two brothers' dispute related to ancestral property.

Pasayat thought it could be solved outside the court, so he summoned both the brothers to his chamber.

He first called the elder brother. "What is the problem?" he asked.

The elder brother, almost in tears, confessed that he loved his younger sibling, in fact it was he who had brought up the latter after their parents' deaths, remaining unmarried for his sake.

"Then why are you fighting?" asked Justice Pasayat.

"My younger brother's wife doesn't wear dupatta. I don't like that. That is not how our women dress," the elder one said.

Justice Pasayat then called the younger brother. He too conceded that he loved his elder kin. "But he is making unreasonable demands. My wife is an educated girl. How can he force her to follow tradition?" he said.