[Reader-list] char soh bees

[Aarti]

Dear All,

For a little while I have been thinking about some things that I want to 
share with you, with which I need some help. They are very unformed 
right now, just nascent initial thoughts, not quite coherent, but 
nonetheless. Through conversation with comrades here, maybe they will 
get clarified and more fleshed out.

I am basically curious about how the law circulates, and the forms in 
which it circulates. By this I mean..how do we know the law in everyday 
life? For instance, if you happen to be a filmmaker and need to shoot in 
a particular area, you know you will have to get permissions from the 
DCPs of various police stations because many areas, Central Delhi for 
instance are under this Act (the exact act i forget now) which makes 
shooting etc without permission illegal. Likewise in the course of doing 
the things we do we interact with the letter of the law in various ways, 
and the law filters down to us. What we know of the law is not always 
the 'Law' i.e we have a sense of what it is we can and cannot do, though 
we may not always be in the know of the specific legal injunction that 
allows or prohibits the doing of certain things.

Also, how does the language of the law enter our language. For instance 
'char soh bees' (420) is a common phrase to describe a no-good 
character, but it is also section 420 of the IPC which relates to 
dishonesty, cheating, petty fraud etc. what are other similar phrases in 
common usage which speak of the law? I was wondering if anyone might be 
able to help me with this. I right now cant think of any other phrase 
except char so bees, but I'm sure there must be others.


Any thoughts, and help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


best

Aarti