Novel Protest: To Pay Fine of Rs 100, SC Lawyers Contribute 50 Paise Each

Fifty paisa sounds small but it may mean a lot more.

More than a hundred lawyers in the Supreme Court have come together to send out a loud message through the clinks of the small coins. Their goal - collect Rs 100 to pay off a fine but let the message make some real sound.

The crowd-funding for a meagre Rs 100 sounds bizarre but the messaging is what this clutch of lawyers harp upon.

This money will be used to pay the fine of a lawyer who has been penalised for claiming in his petition that the registry of the top court is biased and favours only a few.

Advocate Reepak Kansal was recently slapped with a penalty of Rs 100 by a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra.

The judgment said the monetary fine is a 'token' to remind that Kansal should not have levelled such accusations against the court registry.

But Kansal now has the support of at least 104 fellow lawyers, who also believe the fine should be a symbol -- for the court registry to understand Kansal is not the only one who has this opinion.

They seek a message that Kansal might be the only one who filed the petition but he is surely not the only one asking for a more objective and transparent norms for listing cases by the registry.

At present, 77 coins are already in, 24 coins have been committed. Many found the coins in their piggy banks, some in the temples at home. 105 lawyers have endorsed the cause.

With the fine to be deposited very soon in the denomination of 50 paise coins, the registry should brace itself for doing some 'exceptional' work.