A Delhi lawyer manhandling JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar in Patiala House
Lawyers practicing in Mumbai have issued a statement condemning the violent behaviour of their Delhi counterparts in Patiala House this week. A group of Delhi lawyers had beaten journalists and students on two separate occasions. The statement has been signed by 106 Mumbai lawyers.
We the undersigned lawyers practicing in Mumbai, condemn the undignified behavior of our professional colleagues in the Patiala House Court Complex, Delhi during this week. As members of the legal fraternity we are ashamed of their conduct which is neither becoming of the dignity of the profession nor as citizens of a free and democratic country. This is nothing but tyranny and mockery of a system we took an oath to practice in.
We practice in a system that recognizes freedom of speech and expression and a right to be represented before a court. As officers of the court and upholders of law it is not becoming of us lawyers to engage or indulge in such acts of assaulting, beating up and intimidating people within or outside the Court premises. The conduct of assaulting any citizen of the country is not only taking law into our hands but proclaiming that we have no faith in justice and the very legal system we practice in.
Freedom of speech and expression is the very foundation of our practice and if these very rights and freedoms are curtailed it threatens the edifice of our profession.
A fundamental principle of law is that everyone is innocent till proven guilty and by such unbecoming conduct we are declaring the entire process of law infructuous. If guilt were to be decided outside the court, through popular sentiment the entire judicial process would be rendered meaningless. We as practitioners of law must desist from such conduct and uphold the dignity of the profession.
We write this open letter with the hope, that our fellow lawyers will respect and uphold the dignity of our profession.
Anil Anturkar, Sr. Counsel
Aspi Chinoy, Sr. Counsel
Dinyar Madon, Sr. Counsel
E. P Bharucha, Sr. Counsel
Gayatri Singh, Sr. Counsel
Janak Dwarkadas, Sr. Counsel
Mihir Desai, Sr. Counsel
Milind Sathe, Sr. Counsel
Navroz Seervai, Sr. Counsel
Rahul Narichania, Sr. Counsel
Rajani Iyer, Sr. Counsel
Ravi Kadam, Sr. Counsel
Sanjay Singhvi, Sr. Counsel
Shirish Gupte, Sr. Counsel
Shyam Mehta, Sr. Counsel
Venkatesh Dhond, Sr. Counsel
Adv. Aabad Ponda
Adv. Aayush Tainwala
Adv. Abdul Bari Ansari
Adv. Abhilasha Sharma
Adv. Abhinav Tiwari
Adv. Aditya Swarup
Adv. Afreen Khan
Adv. Anita Castellino
Adv. Apeksha Parekh
Adv. Archana Rupwate
Adv. Arshad Shaikh
Adv. Arun Ferrera
Adv. Asadulla A Sayed
Adv. Asha Rudiyal
Adv. Ayaz Shaikh
Adv. Bruno Castellino
Adv. Butul A Sayed
Adv. D. British
Adv. Deepa Chhabria
Adv. Farhana Latief
Adv. Flavia Agnes
Adv. Hemant B. Kumar
Adv. Hemant Ingle
Adv. Imtiyaz Shaikh
Adv. Irene Sequeira
Adv. Jalaja Nambiar
Adv. Jaya Menon
Adv. Kanika Joshi
Adv. Karl Tamboli
Adv. Kranti LC
Adv. Lara Jesani
Adv. Maharukh Adenwalla
Adv. Maneck Mulla
Adv. Mani Prakash
Adv. Manoj M Kadam
Adv. Medha Deo
Adv. Meenaz Kakalia
Adv. Mini Mathew
Adv. Monica Sakhrani
Adv. Mridula kadam
Adv. Mussadique Shaikh
Adv. Naushad Engineer
Adv. Nausheen Yousuf
Adv. Nikhil Sakhardande
Adv. Nilima Dutta
Adv. Nita Bhatia
Adv. Persis Sidhva
Adv. Pradeep mandhyan
Adv. Prajakta Keni
Adv. Pranali Pawar
Adv. Priyank Kapadia
Adv. Raju Moray
Adv. Rebecca Gonsalves
Adv. Riddhi Dadia
Adv. Robin Fernandes
Adv. Roshni Tandale
Adv. S M Algaus
Adv. Sangeena Aliyar
Adv. Sanober Keshwaar
Adv. Sarah Kapadia
Adv. Sarosh Bharuch
Adv. Saumya Brajmohan
Adv. Scherezad Parelvala
Adv. Shalini Devi
Adv. Sharan Jagtiani
Adv. Sharmila Kaushik
Adv. Shonottra H. Kumar
Adv. Shrey Fatterpekar
Adv. Shreya Jha
Adv. Shruti Jadhav
Adv. Shweta Moray
Adv. Siddha Pamecha
Adv. Somasekhar Sundaresan
Adv. Sonal Waingankar
Adv. Sumangala Biradar
Adv. Sunil R Pandey
Adv. Surabhi Singh
Adv. Suraj Sanap
Adv. Suresh Rajeshwar
Adv. Susan Abraham
Adv. Swaraj Jadhav
Adv. T. Parakkadan
Adv. Utkarsh Mishra
Adv. Veena Gowda
Adv. Veena Johari
Adv. Vidhi Kotak
Adv. Vijay Hiremath
Adv. Vinamra Kopariha
Adv. Yug Mohit Chaudhry
Adv. Zaman Ali