"The Judge" by R. K. Narayan (reprinted in Grandmother's Tale and Other Stories)

R. K. Narayan is one of my very favorite writers.  I have read all of his novels and a number of his wonderful short stories, mostly set in the imaginary south India community of Malguidi. 

A recurring Malguidi character known as "the teller of tall tales" is talking about his time working as a judge.  One of his many family members had seen a notice advising experienced journalist, as he was, to apply for a job as a judge.  We are along for the very interesting successful  job interview.  

The heart of the story is multi suspect murder case.  The judge decides guilt and punishments, there is no jury.  A man was pulled of a full passenger bus and beaten to death.  Of course the driver and the passengers claim pepper was thrown in their eyes preventing them from seeing anything.  The judge knows they are just afraid to testify.  There are seven defendents and the case is being dragged on by the defense attorney.  The judge wants give some defendents the death penalty and msybe let the younger ones go but he cannot quite make up his mind.

The ending is hilarious and very easy to visualize.

The editor of The Grandmother's Tale and other Stories did not include the orginal date and place of publication.  They should have

Mel u