The Bench, the Bar, and the Bizarre: the Unfamiliar, the Curious, and the Extraordinary in Law

If you think the law is always solemn, orderly, and predictable, think again. In The Bench, the Bar, and the Bizarre, Tushar Mehta invites you on a guided tour through the curious edges of the law—sometimes whimsical, sometimes absurd, and often unexpectedly funny. This book offers a collection of surprising and engaging incidents, events, and judgments that will appeal not only to lawyers and judges, but to non-legal readers as well. Drawing on real cases from around the world, this is the side of the law and its functionaries rarely seen: judges who expressed dissenting views in their judgments with remarkable vigour; maverick litigants who sued demons, the Devil, and even God—not out of mere eccentricity, but to prove a point; judges who harangued others over robes, wigs, and mobile phones; instances of judges unduly absorbed in social media; and those who, from the Bench, allowed authority occasionally to overwhelm restraint. Unpredictable and incisive, these episodes reveal the strange humanity that lurks behind the solemn rituals of justice—and remind us that the law, for all its dignity, can sometimes be gloriously bizarre, yet undeniably fascinating to legal professionals and lay readers alike.