Positional sense

In the Indian judiciary, reputed senior lawyers are often regarded as objects of awe by court personnel and junior lawyers. So perhaps it was not considered worthy of note when one of the defence lawyers told Attorney General G E Vahanvati, in Hindi, "I am in awe of your position," before he started cross-examining the latter. But from his tone, it was unclear whether the lawyer concerned was serious or not, and the statement was not recorded by the court in any case.