National
Lampoon
once
put
a
gun
to
the
head
of
a
dog
and
declared
“If
You
Don’t
Buy
This
Magazine,
We’ll
Kill
This
Dog.”
A
stroke
of
genius
for
a
humor
magazine
in
the
1970s
—
it
was
named
the
7th
best
magazine
cover
of
all
time
—
it
proved
a
less
effective
legal
tactic
in
the
2020s.
A
lawyer
appearing
before
the
Supreme
Court
of
India
told
the
justices
that
he’d
kill
himself
if
they
did
not
grant
his
petition
in
a
criminal
case.
“How
can
you
threaten
the
court
that
you
will
commit
suicide
if
we
don’t
allow
your
prayer?
You
are
a
lawyer.
We
will
ask
the
Bar
Council
to
suspend
your
license
and
register
an
FIR,”
said
the
bench
of
Justices
Abhay
S
Oka
and
Ujjal
Bhuyan.The
court
asked
the
lawyer
to
submit
a
written
apology
by
March
7
or
face
consequences.The
lawyer’s
suicide
threat
came
in
connection
with
a
petition
—
Ramesh
Kumaran
and
another
v.
State.
The
petitioner
Ramesh
Kumaran,
a
member
of
the
Bar,
appearing
on
video
conference,
said
if
the
police
case
against
respondent
number
2
is
cancelled,
he
would
commit
suicide.
The
attorney
ultimately
confessed
that
the
remark,
made
during
a
teleconference
hearing,
was
the
result
of
getting
“emotional.”
But
the
justices
still
want
a
written
apology
anyway.
Threatening
violence
—
against
yourself
or
others
—
is
still
a
threat,
which
makes
this
intimidation
not
advocacy.
And
if
it
was
just
a
poor
attempt
at
humor
it
trivializes
mental
health
for
the
purpose
of
litigation
strategy.
In
either
event,
the
Court
wants
the
apology
in
writing
to
send
a
clear
message
that
they’re
not
going
to
tolerate
these
sorts
of
threats.
A
message
they
apparently
need
to
send
because
this
has
happened
before.
A
similar
incident
took
place
last
year
before
a
bench
of
Justices
Sanjiv
Khanna,
Sanjay
Kumar,
and
R.
Mahadevan.
What
is
going
on
in
India?
Can’t
you
just
threaten
to
stop
funding
the
Supreme
Court
justices’
luxury
vacations
under
the
table
like
we
do?
Supreme
Court
Seeks
Written
Apology
As
Lawyer
Threatens
Suicide
[NDTV]
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
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