We, the undersigned concerned citizens, are extremely perturbed at the increasing tendency of the Government, through its agencies, to use excessive power to curb the voice of the people, which is the very essence of democracy.
The work of Lawyer’s Collective in general and
Indira Jaising and Anand Grover, in particular, have contributed to changing the lives not just of individuals but also of citizens of a democratic republic. They have not only represented the rights of individuals and communities such as slum dwellers, workers,trade unions, prisoners, SC/ST associations,Bhopal Gas tragedy victims, women,LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities as lawyers, but have also contributed immensely to the discourse of human rights and state accountability as public intellectuals.
They represent a commitment to the country that our founding leaders envisioned and that is enshrined in our Constitution. They have fearlessly exercised their right to not just freedom of speech and expression but the fundamental right of everycitizen to hold the Government and Institutionsof the day accountable. This is a right that everyconstitutional democracy must seek to protect forits citizenry.
The registration of an FIR against them under theForeign Contribution Regulation Act, Prevention ofCorruption Act and the Indian Penal Code, on the very allegations that are already under challenge before the High Court of Bombay, is a clear sign of executive haste and overreach. Pillorying them in this manner would deprive vulnerable sections of society of the benefit of representation of such highcaliber and commitment. We do not wish to see afuture where the voices of people such as IndiraJaising and Anand Grover are curtailed and the attempt of the State to do so must be strongly criticized. We must today as citizens of a free country, stand with those who have, for the lastfour decades stood with us.
We call upon the Ministry of Home Affairs,the Central Bureau of Investigation and the courtsof law to desist from the unjustified and vindictive use of Criminal Law on the likes of Indira Jaising,
Anand Grover or any citizen of this country.
Signatories
AnjuDodiya, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
AtulDodiya, Artist,Mumbai | ||||||||
Amar Kanwar, Artist, Film-maker New Delhi | ||||||||
ArundhathiNag,Theatre Director&Actor,Bengaluru | ||||||||
Atul Kumar, Theatre Director&Actor, Mumbai | ||||||||
Ava Bhavsar, Artist, Ahmedabad | ||||||||
Amol K Patil, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Amir Rizvi, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
ArchanaHande, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Anant Joshi, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
AnuradhaKapur, Theatre maker, New Delhi | ||||||||
Ammu Joseph, Senior Journalist, Bengaluru | ||||||||
Ajay Noronha, Cinematographer/Filmmaker, Mumbai | ||||||||
Anjali Monteiro, Filmmaker and academic, Mumbai (TISS) | ||||||||
Anjali Gopalan, human rights and animal rights activist, Naz
Foundation |
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Abhro Banerjee, Film editor | ||||||||
AparnaAndhare, Museum Professional, Mumbai & Jaipur | ||||||||
Aditi Ray, Journalist, Kolkata | ||||||||
AnandPatwardhan, Filmmaker, Mumbai | ||||||||
Arpita Singh, Artist, New Delhi (Padma Shri) | ||||||||
Anjum Singh, Artist, New Delhi | ||||||||
AbhijeetTamhane, Art critic, Mumbai | ||||||||
Arijit Bhattacharyya, Artist, West Bengal | ||||||||
Arunesh, Sangama, Resource Centre on Sexuality,Bengaluru | ||||||||
AntaraDevSen, Journalist, New Delhi | ||||||||
Anjali Damania, Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
AvijitMukul Kishore, Filmmaker, Mumbai | ||||||||
AnupSurendranath, Lawyer, Professor, Delhi | ||||||||
Aparna, President, IFTU | ||||||||
Anima Muyarath, Advocate Kerala | ||||||||
ArmaityIrani, Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
AvantikaMehra, IIT Mumbai | ||||||||
AdvaitPednekar, Mumbai | ||||||||
AnuradhaKalhan, academic, Pune | ||||||||
Anita Rampal, Academic, New Delhi | ||||||||
Aileen Marquez, Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
Dr Bernard Imhasly, Journalist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Bharatesh G D, Visual Artist, Bangalore | ||||||||
BehrozeGandhy, Filmmaker, London | ||||||||
BalachandranRamiah, Investments, Mumbai | ||||||||
BharatiKapadia, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
BinaSarkarEllias, Poet, Editor & Publisher, Bombay | ||||||||
BabuEshwar Prasad, Artist, Bangalore | ||||||||
Brinelle D’Souza, TISS, PUCL, ICWM, Mumbai | ||||||||
ChitraPalekar, Film Writer and Director, Mumbai | ||||||||
Charles Williams, BPO Operations, Mumbai | ||||||||
Chhatrapati Dutta, Artist, Kolkata | ||||||||
Chitra Joshi Academic, Delhi | ||||||||
DhruviAcharya, Visual Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
DilipRanade, Artist, Thane | ||||||||
Diksha Sharma, Filmmaker, Mumbai | ||||||||
Danish Husain, Theatre Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
DibeyenduGanguly, Journalist, Mumbai | ||||||||
DeeptiGopinath, Secretary, Indian Airports Employees Union,
Mumbai |
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Francis Pullambra, Self‐employed, Mumbai | ||||||||
Franklyn D’souza, former President, Hindustan Lever Employees
Union, Mumbai |
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George Jose, Academic, Mumbai | ||||||||
GopaljiPradhan, Professor, Hindi School of Letters,
Ambedkar University, Delhi |
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GayatriKodikal, Artist and Writer, Rotterdam | ||||||||
Geeta Kapur, Art historian, New Delhi | ||||||||
V Geetha, Scholar on feminism and caste, Publisher &
Co-director, Tara Books, Chennai |
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Gayatri Singh, Senior Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
Geeta Seshu, Journalist, Mumbai | ||||||||
GautamMody, General Secretary, NTUI | ||||||||
HardikDoshi, Investment Fund Advisor, Mumbai | ||||||||
HussainIndorewala, Asst. Professor & Architect, Mumbai | ||||||||
Indu Chandrasekhar, Publisher, TulikaBooks,Delhi | ||||||||
Ina Puri, Art Promoter, New Delhi | ||||||||
Ira Bhaskar, Professor, New Delhi | ||||||||
JavedAkhtar, Writer, Mumbai | ||||||||
JitishKallat, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Jhelum Paranjape, Dancer, Teacher & Choreographer, Mumbai | ||||||||
Jahangir Jani, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Justin Ponmany, Visual Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Jyotsna Murthy, Entrepreneur, Bangalore | ||||||||
JyotiPunwani, Journalist, Mumbai | ||||||||
KausikMukhopadhyay, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
KP Jayasankar, Filmmaker & Academic, Mumbai (TISS) | ||||||||
Krishna Rao, Independent Consultant, Bangalore | ||||||||
Krishnapriya C P, Visual artist/Curator, Chennai | ||||||||
KumkumSangari, Professor, New Delhi | ||||||||
Kamini Tanka, Professor, New Delhi | ||||||||
KarunaNundy, Advocate, New Delhi | ||||||||
Kirti Jain, Theatre, Delhi | ||||||||
KevalArora, Academic, Delhi | ||||||||
Kavita Singh, Art Historian, Professor, School of Arts and
Aesthetics, JNU, New Delhi |
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V S Krishna, Human Rights Forum (HRF) Andhra Pradesh | ||||||||
K. Anuradha, Human Rights Forum, Andhra Pradesh | ||||||||
K.Sudha, Human Rights Forum, Andhra Pradesh | ||||||||
KritikaAgarwal, Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
Lara Jesani, Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
LubainaRangwala, Urban Planner, Mumbai | ||||||||
LN Tallur, Artist, Koteshwara | ||||||||
Laxmi Murthy, Journalist, Bengaluru | ||||||||
MadhushreeDutta, Filmmaker | ||||||||
Meeta Jain, Architect, Bangalore | ||||||||
Mansore, Artist & Filmmaker, Bengaluru | ||||||||
MeeraDevidayal, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Mansi Bhatt, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
MandiraMitra, Advocate, New Delhi | ||||||||
Maya Rao, Theatre artist, Delhi | ||||||||
Mohan Rao, Professor (retired), Bangalore | ||||||||
MithuSen, Artist, New Delhi | ||||||||
Mamta Murthy Filmmaker, Mumbai | ||||||||
Mitra Mukherjee Parikh, Academic, Mumbai | ||||||||
MuktaSrivastav, NAPM, Mumbai | ||||||||
MeenaGopal, Academic, TISS | ||||||||
MilindChampanerkar, author and activist, Pune | ||||||||
Mohua Ray, Artist and art educator, Mumbai | ||||||||
Dr Mathew Abraham, Mumbai | ||||||||
Mini Mathew, Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
Nilima Sheikh, Artist, Vadodara | ||||||||
Naseeruddin Shah, Actor, Mumbai | ||||||||
NityanandJayaraman. Journalist & Social Activist | ||||||||
Neeladri Bhattacharya, Historian, Delhi | ||||||||
NimiRavindran, Producer, Writer, Director, Bangalore | ||||||||
NeeraAdarkar, Architect, Mumbai | ||||||||
Nancy Adajania, Curator and cultural theorist, Mumbai | ||||||||
OliGhosh, Artist and Art Educationist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Pushpamala N, Artist, Bangalore | ||||||||
Priyanka Jain, Visual Artist, Delhi | ||||||||
PrajaktaPotnis, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
PersisAnklesaria, Retired, Mumbai | ||||||||
PremjishAchari, Art Historian/Curator, Delhi | ||||||||
Poorna Swami, Choreographer & Writer, Bangalore | ||||||||
Paramjit Singh, Artist, New Delhi | ||||||||
Priyanka Raja, Gallerist, Kolkata | ||||||||
PrabhavathiMeppayil, Artist, Bangalore | ||||||||
PravinNadkar, Trade Union Centre of India (TUCI), Maharashtra | ||||||||
Preeti Sharma Menon, AAP | ||||||||
ParthoSarothi Ray, academic & activist, Kolkata | ||||||||
Prabodh Parikh, Poet & Writer, Mumbai | ||||||||
PervinJehangir, NAPM, Mumbai | ||||||||
PradeepMandhyan, Advocate Mumbai | ||||||||
RajaniIyer, Senior Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
RatnaPathak Shah, Actor, Mumbai | ||||||||
ReenaKallat, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Ravi Kulkarni, Lawyer, Mumbai | ||||||||
RohanShivkumar, Academic, Architect & Urban | ||||||||
Designer, Mumbai | ||||||||
RakhiPeswani, Artist, Bangalore | ||||||||
RanjitKandalgaonkar, Visual Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
RashnaImhasly-Gandhy, Psychologist, Mumbai | ||||||||
RinaKamath, Legal Practitioner, Mumbai | ||||||||
Radhi Parekh, Designer, Mumbai | ||||||||
ReethaBalsavar, Theatre, Mumbai | ||||||||
Ram Rahman, Photographer, New Delhi | ||||||||
RakeshShukla, Advocate, Supreme Court, Delhi | ||||||||
RekhaMammen, Academic, TISS | ||||||||
Dr. Raj Kumar Mazinder, Asst. Professor, Dept. of | ||||||||
Visual Arts, Assam University | ||||||||
RabindraHazari, Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
Ritambhara, Journalist, New Delhi | ||||||||
Rahul Kamerkar, Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
RadhikaSingha, Professor, New Delhi | ||||||||
RanaBehal, Academic, Delhi | ||||||||
RasnaBhushan, Art Critic, Hyderabad | ||||||||
Radhika Wader, Artist, Vadodara | ||||||||
RupandePannalal, Mumbai | ||||||||
Rajiv Dhimri, General Secretary, AICCTU | ||||||||
Saba Dewan, Filmmaker, Gurgaon | ||||||||
ShakuntalaKulkarni, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Shilpa Gupta, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Surekha, Artist, Bangalore | ||||||||
SandhyaSrinivasan, Journalist, Mumbai | ||||||||
SheelaGowda, Artist, Bangalore | ||||||||
P Sainath, Journalist,writer, founder editor, People’s Archive of
Rural India |
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SheelaRamanathan, Advocate, Coimbatore | ||||||||
T V Santhosh, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Suresh Rajamani, Sound Recordist, Mumbai | ||||||||
SankalpMeshram, Filmmaker & Editor, Mumbai (National
Award‐winner) |
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Sameer Khedekar, IT, Mumbai | ||||||||
ShwetaWagh, Asst. Professor,Architect, Mumbai | ||||||||
ShaliniSawhney, Art Promoter, Mumbai | ||||||||
SanjanaShelat, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Shashi Mehta, Designer of Truth, Mumbai | ||||||||
SudiptaGhosh, Service, Bangalore | ||||||||
ShuchiKapoor, Photojournalist, Chennai | ||||||||
ShireenGandhy, Gallerist, Mumbai | ||||||||
SudharakOlwe, Social documentary Photographer | ||||||||
(Padma Shri) | ||||||||
SanjeevKhandekar, Artist, Poet & Writer, Mumbai | ||||||||
SujaySaple, Performance Maker, Mumbai | ||||||||
SachinKamani, Theatre Manager, Mumbai | ||||||||
Sunil Shanbag, Theatre, Mumbai | ||||||||
SameeraIyengar, Theatre, Mumbai | ||||||||
SimantiniDhuru, Film‐Maker & Educationist, Mumbai | ||||||||
SajalSarkar, Visual Artist, New Jersey | ||||||||
S N Sujith, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Sonya Gill, womens’ rights Activist, Mumbai | ||||||||
SumanSamajpati, Artist, Kolkata | ||||||||
Sourav Roy Chowdhury, Artist, Kolkata | ||||||||
ShernaDastur, Graphic Designer, New Delhi | ||||||||
Sopan Muller, Filmmaker, Mumbai | ||||||||
SukiratAnand, Punjabi Writer and Journalist, Jalandhar | ||||||||
SushmaVeerapa, Filmmaker, Bangalore | ||||||||
SunandaBhat, Filmmaker, Bangalore | ||||||||
ShuklaSawant Professor, School of Arts and Aesthetics,
JNU, New Delhi |
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SusantaMandal, artist, Delhi | ||||||||
Satyajit Dave, Historian, Mumbai | ||||||||
Sarah Kapadia, Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
SurenUppal, Advocate, Delhi | ||||||||
SumangalaBiradar, Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
SreeGoswami, Gallerist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Surabhi Sharma, Filmmaker, Mumbai | ||||||||
Sanjay Singhvi, Senior Advocate & President, Trade Union
Centre of India (TUCI) |
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SukumarDamle, National Secretary, AITUC | ||||||||
Saumya Uma, Professor, Delhi | ||||||||
Subhashini Ali, Politician, Lucknow | ||||||||
SuhaasAhuja, actor & singer, Mumbai | ||||||||
Shriprakash, Film maker | ||||||||
Satyen K Bordoloi, Film maker, Mumbai | ||||||||
SrikantModak, Journalist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Stephen Rego, journalist, Mumbai | ||||||||
SachidanandShetty, restaurateur, Mumbai | ||||||||
TejuJhaveri, Graphic Designer, Mumbai | ||||||||
TamalMitra, Artist & Teaching, Mumbai | ||||||||
TeestaSetalvad, human rights activist and Journalist, Mumbai | ||||||||
TrideepPais, Advocate, New Delhi | ||||||||
UttamGhosh, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Usha Anna Abraham, Mumbai | ||||||||
VaishaliNarkar, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
Varna Balakrishnan, Research Fellow, Karwan e Mohabbat,
New Delhi |
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VinodShetty, Lawyer, Mumbai | ||||||||
VickramCrishna, Private Citizen, Mumbai | ||||||||
VivanSundaram, Artist, New Delhi | ||||||||
VarunikaSaraf, Artist, Hyderabad | ||||||||
VasudhaNagaraj, Advocate, Hyderabad | ||||||||
VeenaJohari, Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
Vineesh Amin, Artist, Bengaluru | ||||||||
VeenaGowda, Lawyer, Mumbai | ||||||||
VivekMonteiro, Secretary, CITU, Maharashtra | ||||||||
N.Venugopal, Journalist, Hyderabad | ||||||||
N. Vasudevan, President, NTUI, Mumbai | ||||||||
VasudhaSawaikar, Ph.d student, Goa University | ||||||||
Vidya Das Arora, Academic, Delhi | ||||||||
VikasRawal, Professor, New Delhi | ||||||||
YardenaKurulkar, Artist, Mumbai | ||||||||
YunusKhimani, Artist, Jaipur | ||||||||
Yusuf, Artist, Bhopal | ||||||||
YugChaudhry, Advocate, Mumbai | ||||||||
Zoya Hassan, Political Scientist, New Delhi | ||||||||
Zasha Colah, Curator, Mumbai | ||||||||