Customs of Governance

Colonialism and Democracy in Twentieth Century India

Bibliographic Data

ID3630451
AuthorsRajnarayan Chandavarkar (University of Cambridge, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume41
Issue3
Pages441-470
Publication date2007-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x06002472
OpenAlexW2119965225
LanguageEN
Citations received29

Who is stealing electricity' at Tis Hazari?-the principal magistrate's court for the city of Delhi. The mystery, it turned out, had a simple solution. It implicated a large proportion of the 1500 lawyers' chambers in the court buildings. According to the Vice-President of the Delhi Bar Association (Criminal), the problem arose because the Delhi Vidyut Board 'had installed electricity junction boxes in the premises and has not given any regular connection to individual chambers. Hence, most lawyers had to make their own arrangements'. By this, he meant that the lawyers resorted to tapping electricity from the board's supply lines to run their lights and fans, their refrigerators, air-conditioners and computers. Speaking on behalf of the criminal lawyers, and lending a certain adjectival force to their professional description, their Vice President admitted that it was true that 'earlier, we were stealing electricity. ... But now we have taken up the matter with the DVB and have shown our eagerness in seeking regularised connections'. It was almost as if he expected that their eagerness could be entered as a plea in mitigation

Magistrate · Indian Economic and Social Development · Social and Economic Development in India · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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