Deepa was sweating profusely, trembling all over. The reporters had surrounded her from all sides. Everywhere her eyes went, all she could see were cameras, mics or reporters.
"I don't know anything. Please, leave me alone. Someone save me!" She started crying hysterically.
Seeing her in that state, some of the reporters were momentarily stunned. They began contemplating if someone gave them false information about her. She looked too innocent to commit such a thing. Seizing this chance, the principal tried to make the reporters back off, but suddenly, a cold voice boomed in the room.
"Ms Deepa Singha Roy, the charges against you are completely valid."
All eyes turned in the direction of the voice at once.
A man dressed in a silky white shirt and black trousers, walked in. His get up was really meticulously from top to bottom. Everyone felt a little intimidated by the piercing look in his eyes. Especially Deepa, who was under the direct scrutiny of that gaze.
Everyone present knew Tanmoy Chakraborty, the youngest among the most sought-after criminal defense lawyers in the country. He was also well-known for his cutthroat personality. His rise to fame was a popular story.
He had just graduated college and started practicing in court. It was the very first case he was handling without his mentor. A millionaire tried to bribe him into leaving the case, and threatened to ruin his career if he disobeyed. As a beginner, it was a risky situation to manage, but he was able to turn the tables with his acuity. He accepted the bribe and followed their orders by deliberately avoiding valid arguments with his opponent.
Then, on the last day of the hearing, he presented everything, from money to call recordings and threat notes, before the judge. It turned out to be black money. So, on top of the rape charges against his employee, the millionaire was charged with black money dealings, bribery, and death threats. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Moreover, his opposing counsel was banned from practicing law and was sentenced to ten years in prison for intentionally siding with a criminal. Since the victim was a man, it was harder to convince people that he had been raped. However, Tanmoy somehow managed to gather ironclad evidence.
When the reporters heard him say that, most of the doubts in their heart vanished. It was a known fact that he never made accusations without verification. He had a polite smile on his face but looking at his eyes, Deepa forgot to keep acting and stared at his face blankly.
He came closer and said, "You can drop the act now. You'd need to prepare the speech that you wish to say before the judge. Then maybe the judge will feel sympathetic and think about reducing your punishment?"
"What act? What speech?" Deepa got really then.
'Did he actually figure out that I'm acting or just bluffing? No, no. I need to look afraid of him. Then, I can say he wanted to force a confession out of me.'
Her eyes started watering again.
Tanmoy paid no attention to her tears and said flatly, counting on his fingers, "You've got several charges against you — drugs abuse, bullying students and harassing people."
"Oh! I forgot to show you this."
He clicked on his watch and a screen displaying a court notice appeared.
Deepa stared at the screen wide-eyed and shook her head violently.
"Officers, please take her away." He said softly.
Three police officers came in and arrested Deepa. She screamed and kicked, trying to break free but nothing worked.
The reporters were too shocked to say anything until a young journalist finally spoke up.
"Advocate Chakraborty, can you please elaborate on what you said? We simply received information from an anonymous account that Ms. Singha Roy is related to the drug dealing case. However, you stated that it is true and listed quite a few specific accusations. You also arrested her in front of many people. Do you really have sufficient evidence to make such claims, or was all of that just a bluff? We saw the notice from the court. How can we be sure that you didn't use your connections to obtain it?"
The rest of the reporters snickered in their hearts, certain that he would embarrass himself. They thought he was being too ambitious and did not know that Tanmoy preferred to let his actions speak.
Tanmoy raised his eyebrows, "I can't say anything about using my connections to get the court notice, but I'll certainly use those connections to get you special permission to live stream the sessions from the front row. You can just see it for yourself then."
Everyone was baffled. It was the second time Tanmoy invited a reporter to record the trial. He was not fond of being on camera so it was like a golden opportunity to film him in action. All other videos of him in court were recorded by journalists invited by the opposing counsel and only contained his voice. They were strictly prohibited to include him in the videos.
The youth was also shocked. He was just an amateur and had to substitute for his senior that day. With no prior experience, he just went by the book and questioned Tanmoy's statements. Unlike others, he was unaware of Tanmoy's fame as a just attorney, and did not stop to think that if his questions were kaen as an offence to Tanmoy's work ethics, he could have lost his job. Who would have thought that his reckless questions would get him such a chance?
Tanmoy's legal assistant, a woman in her twenties, was waiting by the door. She was also wearing a white shirt with a black coat and black trouse. Only the colour of her tie was black, unlike his white one.
As Tanmoy walked out of the room, Anulekha handed him his coat and both of them exited the building. Anulekha was Tanmoy's junior. They trained under the same mentor and she respected him a lot. During her three year training period, she had grown quite fond of his work ethics and decided to work as his assistant to gather experience.
"Sir, are we going back?" she asked, opening the car door.
"No, I'm waiting for my sister."
"Huh?" She looked surprised.
"Ms Bibhabori?"
"No."
'Then who else?'
"My little sister."
'... Little sister? Since when?'
Tanmoy ignored her surprised look and asked, "Do I have any new cases?"
"No sir, none that you accepted. But a few are on the waiting list for you to accept...."
Anulekha broke out of her stupor and recited a brief description of the list of cases.
"Which one do you want to accept?"
"Reject any request for the next two months. I'll be spending some time with my family members." He said.
Anulekha nodded and began replying to the messages.