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Month: July 2021

Wilson, Sen ask Bombay HC to decide what is ‘legal electronic evidence’ under criminal law

Wilson, Sen ask Bombay HC to decide what is ‘legal electronic evidence’ under criminal law

Wilson, Sen ask Bombay HC to decide what is ‘legal electronic evidence’ under criminal law

27/07/2021

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Their counsels, senior advocates Indira Jaising and Anand Grover, also told a division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar that there was no connection between the Elgaar Parishad event held on December 31, 2017, and the Koregaon Bhima violence that took place a day later.
Activists Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen, arrested in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case, urged the Bombay High Court on Monday to decide what was “legal electronic evidence” and stating the evidence relied upon by the probing agency was illegal as per law as it had been “planted”.
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Bhima Koregaon Violence Caused By Another Group: Jaising Argues Relying On Ex-CM’s Statements

26/07/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The caste violence at Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018, was not caused by the “lawful” Elgar Parishad event held the previous day, and the case would not attract the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, researcher Rona Wilson told the Bombay High Court.
Senior Advocate Indira Jaising for Wilson submitted that she would be relying on two statements made by then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
… On Monday, a bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar began physical hearings in Wilson and professor Shoma Sen’s petitions under section 482 of the CrPC, Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, challenging the sanction to prosecute them under the UA(P) Act.
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Also read: Bhima Koregaon Case: Where Are The Hindutva Leaders Accused of Violence? (The Quint, July 12, 2021)

This is no ordinary spying. Our most intimate selves are now exposed

This is no ordinary spying. Our most intimate selves are now exposed

The Guardian / by Arundhati Roy

The Pegasus project shows we could all soon be ruled by states that know everything about us, while we know less and less about them.
Here in India, the summer of dying is quickly morphing into what looks very much like a summer of spying.
… Consider this: there are 16 activists, lawyers, trade unionists, professors and intellectuals, many of them Dalit, who have been jailed for years in what is known as the Bhima-Koregaon (BK) case.
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Also read: Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire, July 18, 2021)

161 Names Revealed On Snoop List So Far / Indian activists jailed on terrorism charges were on list

161 Names Revealed On Snoop List So Far / Indian activists jailed on terrorism charges were on list

161 Names Revealed By The Wire On Snoop List So Far

27/07/2021

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Over the past few days, The Wire – in collaboration with 16 other media organisations – has been revealing the names of people who were either persons of interest or forensically identified as having been targeted by clients of the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.
Those on the list include heads of state, political figures, activists, students, lawyers and journalists, among others.
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Pegasus exposé raises unjust detention cry

20/07/2021

The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent

The leaked database showed that the mobile numbers of several accused were on a list of those selected for surveillance by an unidentified client of NSO.
The families of the Elgaar Parishad-Maoist links detainees and one of their lawyers have said the new revelations about targeted surveillance have vindicated their stand that the prolonged imprisonment of the 15 surviving accused is unjust.
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From Ambedkarites and Labour Activists to Umar Khalid and JNU Students, Snoop List Targets All

20/07/2021

The Wire / by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta, Sukanya Shantha and Kabir Agarwal

Leaked list of potential surveillance targets indicates attempt to keep tabs on critics of government policy.
The telephone numbers of an anti-caste leader and several prominent activists are part of a leaked database accessed by the Pegasus Project which includes individuals confirmed to have been targeted with the Israel based NSO group’s spyware.
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Indian activists jailed on terrorism charges were on list with surveillance targets

20/07/2021

The Washington Post / by Joanna Slater and Niha Masih

The Bhima Koregaon activists were also victims of an unidentified hacker who planted evidence on their computers, recent reports found.
When the Indian authorities began arresting lawyers and human rights activists in 2018, Sudha Bharadwaj did what she had done for more than three decades wherever she saw injustice. She organized. She spoke out. She asked courts to uphold the law.
Later that year, the police arrested her, too.
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Cops used Pegasus in Koregaon Bhima case, says Digvijaya Singh

20/07/2021

Times of India / by Suchandana Gupta

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Monday told TOI TOI that Pegasus was used by police in the Koregaon Bhima case, and even his name had surfaced, but he couldn’t be implicated because he had stopped using the phone that was mentioned in the ‘Naxalite letter’.
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Phones of ministers, journalists, lawyers and activists tapped by Pegasus spyware. Indians should worry

19/07/2021

The Leaflet / by Ramesh Menon

In the days ahead, we will know more about the investigations as they will be released in parts. Clearly, there is going to be a stormy monsoon session in Parliament as opposition members will question the government’s role in the snooping scandal. These revelations, if true, bode dangerously for the health of our democracy, writes Ramesh Menon as he recaps what we know about the Pegasus hacking allegations so far.
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HC Reserves Order On Surendra Gadling’s Bail Plea To Attend Mother’s Death Anniversary

HC Reserves Order On Surendra Gadling’s Bail Plea To Attend Mother’s Death Anniversary

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court on Monday reserved for orders the temporary bail appeal of Bhima Koregaon- Elgar Parishad Case accused – Advocate Surendra Gadling to perform his mother’s funeral rites on her first death anniversary on August 15, 2021.
A division bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar said they would pronounce the order on July 30 2021, after hearing submissions from Senior Advocate Indira Jaising for Gadling and advocate Sandesh Patil for NIA.
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UAPA should not remain in this form: Former SC judges flag misuse of anti-terrorism laws

UAPA should not remain in this form: Former SC judges flag misuse of anti-terrorism laws

The Definition of “Terrorist Act” in UAPA Is So Vague That It Is Susceptible To Misuse: Justice Anjana Prakash

26/07/2021

Live Law / by Mehal Jain

Former Patna High Court judge Anjana Prakash on Saturday asserted that while the anti-terror and national security laws are to be used towards the sovereignty and protection of the State, in India, they are being employed for the sovereignty and protection of a political party.
The Supreme Court Senior Advocate was speaking at a webinar by CJAR- “Discussion On DEMOCRACY, DISSENT AND DRACONIAN LAW- Should UAPA & Sedition Have A Place In Our Statute Books?”
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UAPA should not remain in this form: Former SC judges flag misuse of anti-terrorism laws

25/07/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

FormerSupreme Court judges Aftab Alam, Madan B Lokur, Gopala Gowda and Deepak Gupta on Saturday raised concerns on the misuse of anti-terrorism laws in India, reported The Hindu.
Justice Gupta said the courts should intervene and lay down guidelines on the use of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. “The UAPA should not remain in this form,” he said. Gupta was speaking at a virtual conference on “Democracy Dissent and Draconian Laws – do UAPA and sedition have a place in our statute books”, organised by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms.
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It’s Time for the Government To Redeem Itself and Repeal the UAPA

25/07/2021

The Wire / by Anjana Prakash

The UAPA over the years has degenerated into a lethal weapon to quell dissent, and has been used by successive governments to legitimise sinister motives.
Whether the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) fits in with India’s constitutional framework, the international covenants it has signed, its adversarial system of trial, and whether the Supreme Court correctly decided the legality of the law’s bail pre-conditions – which are so irksome and a source of abuse – are questions that need urgent answers. Though the statute was brought in with an objective contrary to what we see today, the UAPA over the years has degenerated into a lethal weapon to quell dissent, and has been used by successive governments to legitimise sinister motives under the clichéd “procedure established by law”.
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In UAPA Cases The Process Itself The Punishment, It Stares Us In The Face In The Death Of Father Stan Swamy Without Trial: Justice Aftab Alam

25/07/2021

Live Law / by Mehal Jain

“Where has this draconian law in the world’s largest democracy taken us? The results are all there for everyone to see. It stares us in the face in the death of Father Stan Swamy without a trial”
“The UAPA shows we are willing to rob our people of freedom far more than any other country without any accountability!”, commented Justice Aftab Alam on Saturday.
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NIA opposes default bail pleas of eight accused

NIA opposes default bail pleas of eight accused

NIA opposes default bail pleas of eight accused

25/07/2021

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

A division bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice N J Jamadar was hearing the plea filed by Sudhir Dhawale, Mahesh Raut, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen, Surendra Gadling and Varavara Rao.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday opposed the plea filed by eight accused in the Elgaar Parishad case challenging the June 2019 order of the Pune sessions court rejecting their default bail pleas.
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May Be An Irregularity, Not An Illegality: Maharashtra Govt On Special NIA Court Not Taking Cognizance Of Case

23/07/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Maharashtra Government and the National Investigation Agency on Friday continued their arguments opposing Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad accused Sudha Bharadwaj’s default bail application.
The State submitted that in her entire petition Bharadwaj hasn’t averred at a single place that she was “denied justice” because a sessions court, and not a special court under the NIA Act, took cognisance of the chargesheet against her and and other accused on February 21, 2019.
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If Court is not empowered to take cognizance, does not mean proceedings can be set aside: NIA to Bombay High Court

23/07/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

An affidavit stating the same was filed before the High Court in the petition filed by eight accused in the Bhima Koregaon case challenging the order refusing bail.
Merely because a court is not empowered by law to take cognizance and yet does so in good faith does not mean that the proceedings should be set aside on that ground alone, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) submitted before the Bombay High Court in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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The State Has Left My Mother To Die, Says Sudha Bharadwaj’s Daughter

The State Has Left My Mother To Die, Says Sudha Bharadwaj’s Daughter

Outlook / by Astha Savyasachi

As activist Sudha Bharadwaj’s health deteriorates inside prison, her friends and family speak to Outlook about her incarceration and work in Chhattisgarh.

‘Dedicated to those prisoners
in whose hearts the future shone like a pearl
But was burnt in the troubled nights of the prison
and diminished into a tiny flicker.’
(Translation of some lines from the poem ‘Intesaab’)

Smita Gupta took to Facebook and dedicated ‘Intesaab’, a famous poem penned by revolutionary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, to her dear friend Sudha Bharadwaj.
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The 16 activists arrested in relation to the Bhima Koregaon case are victims of witch-hunt

The 16 activists arrested in relation to the Bhima Koregaon case are victims of witch-hunt

Frontline / by Anupama Katakam

The arrests and incarceration of 16 activists, known as the BK-16, on specious charges relating to the Bhima Koregaon violence case is part of the Central government’s systematic and methodical targeting of people who dissent and fight against oppression and for the causes of sections of society that a majoritarian government has no space for …
A look at the profile of each victim clearly indicates why the current regime feels threatened by their work.
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Presence of Over 60 Women in Leaked List Highlights ‘Bodily Violation’ Posed by Spyware

Presence of Over 60 Women in Leaked List Highlights ‘Bodily Violation’ Posed by Spyware

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The telephone numbers of more than 60 women – homemakers, lawyers and school teachers, journalists, scientists, civil servants and even friends of politicians – figure in the leaked database of probable surveillance targets selected by an Indian agency that uses Pegasus spyware, a count by The Wire has established.
The names of some of these women have already been published in earlier stories; the identities of others have been withheld at their request.
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Also read: Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire, July 18, 2021)

Protest to seek justice for Stan Swamy / Remembering the revolutionary who challenged everything

Protest to seek justice for Stan Swamy / Remembering the revolutionary who challenged everything

Ranchi, July 23

Pan India agitations protesting ‘institutional murder’ of Fr Stan

24/07/2021

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

The protests are part of a series of public observances called by rights groups, trade unions, Christian organisations, Left parties and their student and youth wings
Human rights activists, civil society groups, mass organisations and trade union members staged agitations in Jharkhand, Delhi and other parts of the country on Friday in protest against the “institutional murder” of Father Stan Swamy.
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Delhi, July 23

Kolkata, July 23

In Jharkhand, Stan Swamy’s Friends and Colleagues Vow to Keep His Fight Alive

22/07/2021

The Wire / by Santosh K. Kiro

A fortnight after tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy’s death, his friends and those he worked were are still in mourning – and also determined to take forward his work.
On July 18, Swamy’s name was engraved on a stone in Bagaicha, the centre he had developed in Ranchi two decades ago to fight for the tribal cause. Every other day, different tribal communities from across Jharkhand are arranging meetings to pay tribute to the activist.
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OPEN NATIONAL CALL: DEFEND RIGHT TO DISSENT

July 2021

Issued by several organizations across the country

Join National Action to Defend Democracy:
Defend Right to Dissent,
Repeal Sedition Law,
UAPA and Repressive State Laws,
Restore Right to Bail

Dear Friends,
The Institutional murder of the 84-year-old Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy in judicial custody on 5th July 2021 has brought home to all of us the urgency of the need to take up the defence of democracy against repressive laws.
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Remembering Stan Swamy, the revolutionary who challenged everything – including the Church

21/07/2021

Scroll.in / by Jyoti Bahen Urumpil, The India Forum

He was a fiery, ruthless messiah for the oppressed and exploited.
Stan Swamy’s mortal remains have been placed reverently with proper dedication. We all know that his spirit and commitment will live forever in the whole world. Swamy was gifted with a good intellect and a warm, tender heart that could almost burst out of anger for justice.
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