There is something rotten deep within the law, for the black coats won’t stop stinking come what may. The latest instalment of the wukla force unleashing its terror upon a consumer court judge, who dared not act on its whims, is the umpteenth reminder of lawyers becoming a law unto themselves. Irony can be unbearably ruthless sometimes. Because what turbo-charged this horrific commotion as a group of rampaging lawyers chained shut the courtroom doors and dragged the poor judge across the compound to his car was a contempt notice to the district administration. So, in a bid to stand behind the blue-eyed brethren, the cohorts ended up breaking the law themselves. At the risk of sounding repetitive, aren’t they responsible for standing true to the same law whose glorious ballads they wouldn’t stop singing! While lawyers running amok has been a routine affair (the less said about them thrashing judicial proceedings, disrupting hearings, and waving the menacing finger at the slightest of displeasure, the better), this bromance with other unruly members of the state is a particularly disturbing development. We may not hear it but the alarm bells are ringing far and wide. Only a while ago, they had banded together against an unarmed woman in Malir (that too, on the court premises) because she had dared raise her voice against a member of the club. However, now the tide seems to be taking an uglier turn, threatening to wipe away the entire citadel of the bench. The Punjab Bar Council’s arm twisting of the rogue lawyers must have come as a great shock to those grown accustomed to a pat on the back. After all, any such distasteful incident is immediately tailgated by boycotts all over. Even now, courts in Mandi Bahauddin were a silent affair because of the legal fraternity’s strike. Far more rubber-stamping the might of the legal eagles was the sight of the heavy police contingent, earnestly shadowing the court against any unpleasant sight. Unruly behaviour cannot and should not be tolerated to taint the well, no matter who indulges in it. Where it is the provincial prerogative to keep its administration in check so such blatant scandals can be avoided, it is just as crucial for the Bar to finally step above its vestigial role. Doling out licenses or whipping up castigating storms should not be the only job description. A similar tough line is to be adopted by the security forces as the policemen deputed at the battleground are also up for interrogation. Why look the other way when they were fully armed to overpower the out-and-out thuggery? Are they, too, joining forces with the black-suited gangsters? *