Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the most-senior judges in the apex court, has been heading a bench, which incidentally has several cases of family feud lined up before it. Duel between parents and children; between siblings; and between couples, form a part of his cause-list every day. Sifting between case papers, Justice Joseph has one common lesson for them all: ‘Don’t waste your will, money and energy in courts… at the end of all this, nobody wins.” According to the judge, it is not wise to pay huge amounts of money to the lawyers only because the litigants happen to be rich and are the ones fighting with their own for more money. “I now see a trend in this court. If your parents have left enough money for you, you give it to the lawyers,” Justice Joseph would lament. Out of many such cases, two would amplify how this SC judge is resolute to resolve family disputes by making members of the family come together – with a strict instruction that lawyers will not be a part of the process. “Try not to even speak to your lawyers when you all are together,” Justice Joseph would tell such litigants. One of these battles had a mother and her three daughters fighting for control over a major biopharmaceutical company. A vortex of litigation included orders passed by the Company Law Board and the high court concerned. When the fight reached Justice Joseph’s bench, the judge first inquired whether all four were present in the courtroom on that day. The next thing he did was to call them to the front. “If you want, we can decide this case completely on merits… based on the records before us and the law. But we want you to stop fighting. There cannot be anything more unfortunate than daughters fighting with their mother for money or authority. Even the God comes after the mother but here you are fighting with her,” Justice Joseph told the daughters. He then said that if the daughters had any respect for their deceased father and wanted his soul to rest in peace, they should stop fighting immediately. “When was the last time mother and daughters sat together and talked? We suggest you do it now. We will provide you a room here in the court complex. Let the mother and daughters spend some time there,” he said. They were then asked to sit and talk in court room number 15, which is currently not functional as a court. After a few hours when the mother and three daughters came back, they seemed at ease and expressed their willingness to spend one more day with each other. Justice Joseph cautioned the daughters against using any strong words against their mother and on an assurance by them that they will take care of their mother, the court adjourned the matter for a day. Next day, the mother told the judge that her dream of bringing the family together once again may become a reality. She said if all of them stayed together for a longer period, away from the hostilities and other worldly affairs, she would get her daughters back in her life. Justice Joseph, conveying his best wishes, gave them 15 more days of companionship, and said even the grandchildren could join them. “This court expects the parties to take atmosphere now created forward and see that even without assistance of anybody else, they are able to settle their inter se disputes amicably by keeping away all those external forces, which, according to them, are standing in the way of the family being together and one,” said the bench, while also directing them not to pursue any civil or criminal case filed against each other in the meantime.