Statement in support of Lawyers Collective

 justice is blind

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

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

Francis Pullambra, Self‐employed, Mumbai
Franklyn D’souza, former President, Hindustan Lever Employees

Union, Mumbai

George Jose, Academic, Mumbai
GopaljiPradhan, Professor, Hindi School of Letters,

Ambedkar University, Delhi

GayatriKodikal, Artist and Writer, Rotterdam
Geeta Kapur, Art historian, New Delhi
V Geetha, Scholar on feminism and caste, Publisher &

Co-director, Tara Books, Chennai

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

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

SheelaRamanathan, Advocate, Coimbatore
T V Santhosh, Artist, Mumbai
Suresh Rajamani, Sound Recordist, Mumbai
SankalpMeshram, Filmmaker & Editor, Mumbai (National

Award‐winner)

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

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)

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

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

 

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