Many years back in the late 1980s mummy had bought me a chamber at Tis Hazari Court . One day , being a Sunday , I was sitting there with my clerk Manoj , like a spider in a web , patiently waiting for his prey .

Excitement gripped me as a young man and elderly lady entered my chamber . Seating themselves , the man introduced himself as Parvez Ahmed , the elderly lady being his mother . I came to know they belonged to a wealthy family having sizeable properties in Calcutta and Delhi .

Due to the untimely death of his father , Parvez , his two sisters and their mother lost all their inheritance which was greedily usurped by their relatives . Seeking to recover their share in the joint family properties they had decided to take legal action .

Parvez was totally unaware of the details of the properties , the joint family business and what all had transpired after his father’s death as he and his sisters were minor then and their mother was illiterate . To top it all I had no idea of Muslim law .

Still undeterred , I valiantly took up their cause with whatever points they provided . The judge was similarly ignorant of Muslim law and proceeded without any objection with my presentation . However when the case reached the stage of filing of documents I realised we had reached a dead end and had no alternative but to withdraw the case .

To be contd