Day: January 25, 2018

Strike By Delhi High Court Bar Association On 25 January

Let me say this most categorically: If there is one High Court which is reputed for seldom going to strike, it is none other than Delhi High Court. It is only when something very serious happens that Delhi High Court Bar Association decides to go on complete strike. One such rare occasion was on 25 January, 2018. That is why even I was awestruck on reading in the news that the Delhi High Court Bar Association has called for strike on 25 January.
                                Sure enough, there were compelling reasons for the lawyers of Delhi High Court to go on a complete strike on 25 January. The Delhi High Court Bar Association resolved to abstain from work on Thursday, i.e. 25 January, as a mark of solidarity against a recent  dastardly attack on two senior and eminent advocates of the Delhi High Court – Kirti Uppal and Vikas Pahwa. As per a resolution passed by the Executive Committee of the Delhi High Court Bar Association, another attack had been staged against advocate Ravi Sharma, when two of his vehicles parked in the courtyard of his house were burned.
                                       Be it noted, these three advocates who have been attacked have together been supporting firmly the cause of a lady advocate. The matter reportedly pertains to lodging of a stalking case against a woman lawyer, who was then allegedly dragged out of her residence by the city police to arrest her despite court orders against coercive action. What is even more despicable is that the lawyers are now being themselves personally attacked!
                                       What can be more disgraceful than this! This should not have happened at the first instance! How will courts function normally if advocates themselves are subjected to personal attacks and even their vehicles are not spared?     
                                      As per the resolution of the Executive Committee of the Delhi High Court Bar Association, even though the FIRs have been registered by the lawyers, the attitude of the police “looks lackadaisical and deliberate protracting”. The police must wake up its ideas! This is a very serious charge!
                                          Needless to say, Delhi police must go all out to make the necessary amends in this direction and ensure that the culprits who attacked the lawyers are swiftly brought to book and strictly punished in accordance with the law! Delhi High Court Bar Association is reputed all over the world for always working in the most professional manner! What is said by its Executive Committee has to be taken most seriously by the Delhi police and steps must be taken by it promptly to restore the faith of the lawyers of Delhi High Court in the police!
                                          To put things in perspective, the resolution of the Executive Committee of the Delhi High Court Bar Association then asserts that, “The Executive Committee is unanimous of the view that the present situation is an extra ordinary in nature in as much as these heinous acts have been executed with the intention to overawe and strike terror in our community by using inflammable substances, in a manner so as to cause injuries or loss of life and damage/destruction of property in order to terrorize the Advocates to refrain from performing their professional duties. The Executive Committee feels that this act of terror threatens the statutory duty of lawyers to conduct themselves fearlessly and with dignity in defending a client.”
                                            To be sure, The Executive Committee also feels that inspite of registration of these FIRs by the lawyers and personal meeting of the Members of the Committee with the Police at the highest level apprising them about the nexus and also providing them with the CCTV footages of these criminal acts, adequate and proper attention is not being given to the matter and their approach looks lackadaisical and deliberately protracting.  The Committee further states that Proxy Counsels have been appointed for every Court and a list will be displayed on the notice boards as well as outside every Court room.”   
                                   Who can deny that attacks on lawyers in past few years have increased manifold? But what is most concerning to note is that now even the lawyers and that too senior and eminent lawyers like Vikas Pahwa and others are not safe even while practicing in the High Court and Supreme Court! The lawyers of Meerut are most concerned for his safety apart from Delhi because his father – KK Pahwa too is an eminent criminal lawyer in Meerut Bar and I consider myself fortunate to having interacted with him some years ago! Moreover, Vikas Pahwa is a legal luminary whose articles keep coming even in national newspapers like ‘The Times of India’ which I have the privilege of reading myself even though I have not personally met Vikas Pahwa ever till now! But he and his father are always appreciated and held in highest esteem by the lawyers here!   
                                                Anyway, coming back to the main subject, the Executive Committee of the Delhi High Court Bar Association on January 24 passed a resolution condemning the attacks on 9th and 22ndJanuary on the properties and cars of senior advocates Vikas Pahwa and Kirti Uppal who is also the President of Delhi High Court Bar Association by using inflammable substances. Not just this, a similar incident the lawyers claimed had taken place on 4th January when the two cars – Maruti Swift and Honda Amaze which were parked in the east Delhi house of advocate Ravi Sharma were torched by unidentified persons. Police itself admitted that attempts were made to set ablaze Vikas Pahwa’s Greater Kailash office building and cars on 9th January!   . 
                                          Vikas Pahwa who is also a member of the Executive Committee revealed that, “There is a complete ban. No advocate appeared in courts and no evidence was recorded in any case. We are holding a peaceful protest and have removed our bands. The Bar is also preparing a writ petition seeking an SIT probe into the incident.” Who can question this demand for SIT probe? There must be SIT probe and truth must come out as to who all are behind this dastardly attack on three eminent and senior lawyers of Delhi High Court. All the shops in the court complex are also shut following the Bar’s call and even Judges left their chambers on seeing the lawyers strike!
                                             It goes without saying that the lawyers all across India stand firmly and fully with these 3 senior and eminent advocates of Delhi High Court in this hour. It is the bounden duty of both Centre and Delhi government to ensure that full protection is given especially  to senior lawyers so that no harm is caused to them or to their property in any manner! They must not back away from it! Who is safe if lawyers themselves are not safe and that to in our national capital? No one! Needless to say, the strike by lawyers of Delhi High Court on January 25 stands fully and firmly justified and it was imperative to highlight the attention of the government to make serious efforts in this direction and to also ensure that police gets rid of its complacency that is too visible in this entire case!    

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.     

How Can Karni Sena Be Above The Law Of The Land?

How can Karni Sena made up of few totally orthodox self-styled Rajputs no matter what the provocations are indulge in ordering its members to forcibly stop showing of film Padmaavat? How can they decide that which film is to be shown and which film is not to be shown? How can they decide that what should be shown in a film and what should not be shown in a film?
                                            How can members of Karni Sena or any other member of any other group issue a reward of Rs 5 crore or 10 crore on the nose of Deepika Padukone as has been done actually? How can they still continue to roam free and be at large without being arrested by police or anyone else? How can they attack buses of children going to schools threatening the very safety of innocent children and scare them to the extent that we can’t even dream of and vandalize the buses in which the children are travelling as has happened actually at many places and still be at large?
                                        How can they vandalize cinema halls, burn vehicles whichever comes their way and yet police sees everything like a mute spectator? How can Karni Sena overrule Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) which has cleared the film after making the necessary  cuts and order its members to make sure that it is not shown in any cinema hall? How can Karni Sena even overrule Supreme Court which has directed States to ensure that the film Padmaavat is shown without being restricted? How can Karni Sena be above the law of the land and do whatever it feels like without any fear of anything? How can Karni Sena proclaim that above Supreme Court there is the court of the people and with the help of their people who are nothing but goons will ensure that the order of Supreme Court which is the highest court of the land is blatantly disregarded?
                                                How can Karni Sena members beat up anyone who wants to see the movie Padmaavati and yet not be arrested by the police? How can the state administration turn a blind eye to the open violence cycle perpetrated by Karni Sena in roads, streets, cinema halls, shops and anywhere they feel like and just condemn it by indulging in nothing but only and only lip service meant for public consumption? How can Karni Sena block roads, highways, burn vehicles, smash vehicles and indulge in violence, arson and loot without being stopped by the police in any manner?
                                                    How can Karni Sena order any person to not see the movie which they feel has insulted their culture? How can Karni Sena openly threaten naked violence and destruction and yet not be arrested promptly? How can Karni Sena mock at our laws and openly dictate that what they decide will operate as law and nothing else can replace it?
                                          How can Karni Sena suddenly emerge out of the blue and start vandalism and violence wherever they want to stop the film Padmaavati from being screened? How can Chief Ministers of the State ignore their Constitutional duty and allow Karni Sena to do whatever they want? How can Karni Sena declare that they will burn all those cinema halls wherever the film Padmaavati is being screened?
                                            How can Karni Sena members openly wave weapons on streets and burn vehicles and vandalise any shop, mall etc wherever they want on the pretext of opposing the film Padmaavat? How can Centre and all those States where this open orgy of unrestricted violence is panning out tolerate all this quietly? How can Karni Sena brutally burn vehicles, injure people, smash toll plazas, burn cinema halls, vandalise shops and do whatever they like as has actually been happening not just in small cities but even in big cities like Ahmedabad and others?                
                                           How can Karni Sena members openly throw stones and injure school children as we saw in Gurugram, etc and yet not be arrested? How can Karni Sena members openly threaten cinema hall owners all over the country to not show the film Padmaavat and if they dare to do then their cinema halls will be vandalized and burnt down as has happened also in different parts of India? How can Karni Sena members claim that they will do this openly and State government and Centre will not be able to do anything to stop them?
                                                   How can Centre and State tame surrender itself in front of Karni Sena and abdicate their legal obligation to provide safety to the cinema hall owners as well as the people from being harassed by the members of Karni Sena and allow them to do what they want to do with just little or no action on the ground being taken? How can Karni Sena start governing the country without being elected or without fighting even a single election? How can Karni Sena start behaving like the dictators and order that no one can disobey what they order and law also has to bend in front of them?            
                                             How can Karni Sena behave like super PM and super CM and dictate what movie the people will see and what movie they will not see? How can Karni Sena order cash rewards for killing or maiming the actor and actresses who shooted in the film Padmaavati without being even arrested or rebuked by the police or anyone else? How can Karni Sena be allowed to hold the prestige and reputation of our entire country to ransom by openly making a mockery of the elected government both in the Centre and in the States and threatening to do all such acts which are not just illegal but a crime?
                                   At a time when PM Narendra Modi is trying to enhance the country’s image at Davos while attending the World Economic Forum, what message is Karni Sena sending? Who would like to invest in India if untrammelled violence by Karni Sena is allowed to go on like this which should have been contained at the first place? How can Karni Sena be above the law of the land?
                                             No organization can so brazenly disregard all rules and regulations and impose their own Talibani farmaan because if Karni Sena is today allowed to do so then tomorrow many more organizations representing different religions and castes can also start imposing their own brazen diktats and start indulging in huge violence, mayhem and destruction if their whimsical orders are not complied with fully! The members of such fringe groups like Karni Sena should have been arrested well in time as a precautionary measure and released only after it was ensured that the film has operated peacefully! But, most unfortunately, this was not done and the consequences are there for all of us to see for ourselves!
                                              Needless to say, Centre as well as State Governments wherever violence breaks out on a large scale cannot escape from their liability of failing to act well in time to prevent the huge violence that breaks out within no time when members of such radical groups like Karni Sena start assembling on the roads in huge numbers and with dangerous weapons in their hands! It is the duty of the Centre and the State Governments to provide security to the people who want to see films and ensure that vandalizers and anti-social elements are not allowed to have the last laugh by indulging in unrestricted violence and looting – all in the name of protecting the culture of Rajputs! Even I myself don’t favour distortion of history by making such controversial films like Padmaavat which has generated so much of controversy and will never see this film but violence and vandalism in the name of protecting culture is just not acceptable!  
                                        This is just not done! It cannot be justified under any circumstances! When we can not just tolerate but accord red carpet welcome to Pakistani invader Gen Musharraf who masterminded Kargil war in which we lost more than 600 soldiers and that too just after 2 to 3 months of the Kargil war and who presented Rs 1 lakh cash prize to dreaded Al Qaeda terror leader Iliyas Kashmiri for presenting him a severed head of an Indian soldier Bhausaheb Maruti Talekar as was reported also in all English dailies and hailed terrorists as freedom fighters and had even threatened to nuke India during Kargil war and even after attack on Parliament was contemplating to do so then  why can’t we be similarly tolerant of the film Padmaavat and its producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali who is not a Pakistani invader like Gen Musharraf who himself conceded that he had entered about 15-16 km inside Indian  territory during Kargil war just the night before war began to boost his soldiers morale to brutally kill Indian soldiers like Captain Saurav Kalia and 5 soldiers of 4 Jat Regiment were killed after mercilessly torturing them for 22 days maiming them, blinding them and not sparing even their private parts and then finally shooting them on their heads and those Pakistani soldiers who did all this were rewarded by Gen Musharraf? Still why we never see such anger against Gen Pervez? Gen Pervez was even honoured by many big media houses yet we didn’t see any anger anywhere that time!  Honour for Gen Pervez Musharraf and hatred for Padmaavat cannot be justified under any circumstances! I strongly condemn it in strongest words!   
                                          Such despicable and barbaric acts which shames us so much internationally cannot be justified under any circumstances and those organizations whose members indulge in such mindless violence must be not just brought to book but also must be made to pay for all the damage done so that no one again dares to indulge in violence and vandalism! But this never happens because of lack of political will! Not just this, the main reason why those indulging in violence are not promptly arrested is that parties don’t want to antagonize any particular class as they constitute a major votebank and doing so will cost them dearly in the upcoming elections! How can self-serving politicians allow this?
                                       This alone explains why supporters of powerful groups like Baba Ram Rahim are able to do what they like without being stopped by police or any other security forces as they are instructed by the political class to not take any action unless they are specifically ordered! We saw how when Baba Ram Rahim was arrested and sent to prison after being sentenced in a rape case, violence erupted on a large scale as his followers were not arrested in time nor stopped from marching to the place where he was being tried! Many innocent people lost their lives as a consequence!
                                         This is what is drastically dragging India backwards and a bold way has to be evolved to deal with it before it engulfs our whole country and endanger the well being and prosperity of our great nation! Centre must now step up the gas and so must all the States and take strictest possible action against those goons who don’t spare even children and school buses in the name of protesting against Padmaavat! If this is not done, even God cannot help our nation from being merged in violence and vandalism which will ultimately destroy our nation!
                                     Can any true Indian ever allow this to ever happen? Certainly not! So we must cultivate compassion and tolerance even for views and persons with which we don’t agree just like we saw when Pakistani invader Gen Pervez Musharraf was accorded a red carpet welcome in India by all major parties and media houses! Violent protests can never be allowed nor should they be allowed by the Centre under any pretext and they cannot be justified under any circumstances! Those who indulge in it must be swiftly arrested and made to pay for all the losses that they have caused! Why protesters never destroy their own property if they are so much angry? Ponder!    
Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.