Mamata’s Black Robes Point To Grey Areas

Indian politics has produced many transformations. Revolutionaries become administrators, agitators become constitutionalists, and occasionally politicians rediscover forgotten professions at strategically dramatic moments. But Mamata Banerjee’s recent appearance before the Calcutta high court, in full advocate attire, has produced a constitutional question more intriguing than the courtroom appearance itself: Can one simply dust off a black gown after decades in politics, and walk into court as though one merely returned from a slightly extended lunch break?