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Video: The Needle of Doubt is Now on All Matters, says Mihir Desai / India’s democracy in decline

Video: The Needle of Doubt is Now on All Matters, says Mihir Desai / India’s democracy in decline

Video: Not Just Bhima Koregaon, the Needle of Doubt is Now on All Matters, says Mihir Desai

12/02/2021


hindi | 23:12min | 2021

Newsclick / Bhasha Singh in conversation with Mihir Desai

In a special offering by Newsclick, senior journalist Bhasha Singh spoke to Mihir Desai, a senior advocate at the Bombay High Court about the new revelation by The Washington Post in the Bhima Koregaon case which has revealed that offensive material was planted through a software on arrested political activist Rona Wilson’s laptop. The disclosure is important because it almost makes it clear that electronic evidence was planted in the Bhima Koregaon case and there is a strong sense of fear that it may happen in other cases as well.
Watch video


Also Read: Computer of Rona Wilson was compromised, malware planted from outside: US Forensic Firm report (Feb 10, 2021)


India’s democracy in decline

12/02/2021

Washington Post / by Joanna Slater and Niha Masih

The future of the world’s largest democracy is looking increasingly less democratic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most dominant Indian leader in five decades, while the country’s independent institutions have rarely appeared weaker…
One case in particular has become a litmus test for the rule of law and freedom of expression in India. Three years ago, police in a state controlled by Modi’s party began arresting activists under a stringent anti-terrorism law.
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Left parties: Withdraw Bhima Koregaon Cases, Release All The Accused Immediately

Left parties: Withdraw Bhima Koregaon Cases, Release All The Accused Immediately

Withdraw Bhima Koregaon Cases, Release All The Accused Immediately

12/02/2021

By Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist-Liberation

A report by a US-based digital forensics firm reveals shocking evidence that malaware was used to plant a bunch of incriminating letters on the computer of Rona Wilson, one of the Bhima Koregaon accused. It is these letters that were made the basis for the Bhima Koregaon case, for which Wilson has been arrested and imprisoned under the draconian UAPA without bail or trial since 2018.
Read full statement (fb)


Release All Bhima Koregaon Accused Unconditionally

11/02/2021

Communistparty.in / by CPI

The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India has issued the following statement today (on February 11, 2021) demanding unconditional release of all accused in Bhima Koregaon case.
Read full statement


Drop Cases against Bhima Koregaon Accused

11/02/2021

Communist Party of India (Marxist) / by CPI-M

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) demands the dropping of cases against activists arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case and asks the Maharashtra Government to set up an SIT to enquire into the developments exposed by the credible reports of international experts as to how evidence was manufactured and planted in the computer of one of the activists Rona Wilson.
Read full statement


Also Read: Computer of Rona Wilson was compromised, malware planted from outside: US Forensic Firm report (Feb 10, 2021)


After Washington Post Exposé India Needs to Amend Rules on Electronic Evidence

After Washington Post Exposé India Needs to Amend Rules on Electronic Evidence

After Washington Post Exposé India Needs to Amend Rules on Electronic Evidence

11/02/2021

The Leaflet / by Dushyant

The Washington Post newspaper has published a report in which Arsenal Consulting, a digital forensics firm, exposes the “extremely dark” and “very organised” hacking of activist Rona Wilson’s laptop to plant incriminating evidence related to the Bhima Koregaon incident. The revelations should trigger a rethink of how evidentiary value of electronic records, writes Dushyant.
Read more


Also Read: Computer of Rona Wilson was compromised, malware planted from outside: US Forensic Firm report (Feb 10, 2021)


Activists and Politicians Demands Special Probe after Revelation

11/02/2021

Newsclick / by Amey Tirodkar

When Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh chaired a meeting to check whether they could reopen the case, the NIA took over it the very next day, on January 25, 2020.
On Wednesday, February 10, The Washington Post reported that the laptop of Rona Wilson, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, was attacked with “malware to infiltrate” prior to his arrest and that the software deposited at least ten incriminating letters on his computer.
Read more

Also Read: Raid On NewsClick: An Attempt To Muzzle The Voices of Dissent (Feb 10, 2021)

Rona Wilson Moves Bombay HC Seeking SIT Probe Into His Framing [read petition]

Rona Wilson Moves Bombay HC Seeking SIT Probe Into His Framing [read petition]

Rona Wilson challenges his prosecution in Bombay HC; seeks SIT probe into his framing [read petition/forensic report]

10/02/2021

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

An accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, Rona Wilson, has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court challenging his prosecution under the stringent anti-terrorism Unlawful Activities (Prevention) (UAPA) Act. He has also sought the constitution of a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate his “framing” and “targeting” by planting incriminating material in his laptop.
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Rona Wilson Moves Bombay High Court Seeking SIT Probe Into Forensic Report

10/02/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

Researcher Rona Wilson, the first person to be arrested in the Bhima Koregaon Case, on Wednesday, approached the Bombay High Court seeking the formation of a Special Investigation Team to inquire into the planting of fabricated documents in his computer over a course of around 22 months.
Wilson, as well as 15 other civil rights activists and academics, in India, are incarcerated, facing charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) based on letters primarily retrieved from his and co-accused Surendra Gadling’s computer, to claim a conspiracy to kill the Prime Minister and overthrow the government.
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Also Read: Computer of Rona Wilson was compromised, malware planted from outside: US Forensic Firm report (Feb 10, 2021)


Key evidence against jailed activists planted using malware, says forensic report [read report] / Video: Planted Evidence?

Key evidence against jailed activists planted using malware, says forensic report [read report] / Video: Planted Evidence?

They were Accused of plotting to overthrow the Modi government – The evidence was planted, a new report says

10/02/2021

Washington Post / by Niha Masih and Joanna Slater

Key evidence against a group of Indian activists accused of plotting to overthrow the government was planted on a laptop seized by police, a new forensics report concludes, deepening doubts about a case viewed as a test of the rule of law under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
An attacker used malware to infiltrate a laptop belonging to one of the activists, Rona Wilson, before his arrest and deposited at least 10 incriminating letters on the computer, according to a report from Arsenal Consulting, a Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm that examined an electronic copy of the laptop at the request of Wilson’s lawyers.
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Computer of Rona Wilson was compromised, malware planted from outside: US Forensic Firm report

10/02/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The report was prepared by a foreign digital forensics consulting company appointed by the lawyers of Rona Wilson, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
… Massachusetts-based firm Arsenal Consulting was appointed by Wilson’s lawyers to analyse the electronic evidence seized from his home by the Pune Police in 2018.
Read more


Read Arsenal Consulting’s full report here


Video: Planted Evidence?

10/02/2021


en | 23:20min | 2021

NDTV / by Sreenivasan Jain

In this episode of Reality Check, a new report suggests crucial evidence on which the investigating agencies built the case against activists in the Bhima Koregaon case may have been planted.
Sreenivasan Jain in conversation with Mark Spencer, Head of Arsenal Consulting; Joanna Slater, Washington Post; Vrinda Grover, Advocate Supreme Court; Geeta Bhatt, Political Analyst; N Venugopal, Varavara Rao’s nephew.
Watch video


Key evidence against jailed activists planted using malware, says forensic report

10/02/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The report found that an attacker used malware to infiltrate activist Rona Wilson’s laptop before his arrest, and deposited at least 10 incriminating letters.
Key evidence against a group of activists and intellectuals, who have been arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, was planted using a malware on a laptop seized by police, a new forensics report has found, The Washington Post reported.
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Incriminating Letters Were ‘Planted’ on Rona Wilson’s Laptop: US Digital Forensics Firm

10/02/2021

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Investigating agencies have used these letters to implicate Wilson and 15 other rights activists arrested in the ongoing Elgar Parishad case of 2018.
For at least 22 months before the Pune Police had raided activist Rona Wilson’s residence in New Delhi and arrested him, a cyber attacker had allegedly gained access to his laptop and planted at least 10 incriminating letters on it.
Read more


Also Read:
Prison-rights activist Rona Wilson’s hard disk contained malware that allowed remote access (The Caravan, Mar 2020)
13 letters leaked by Pune police show why it’s hard to believe claims about a Maoist conspiracy (Scroll.in, Sep 2018)

Process Has Become Punishment In Case Of Varavara Rao: Anand Grover (video)

Process Has Become Punishment In Case Of Varavara Rao: Anand Grover (video)


en | 15:50min | 2021

The Logiacl Indian / by Navya Singh

81-year-old poet, activist Varavara Rao has spent 149 out of 365 days in the hospital. The activist’s lawyers and family have urged that he should be granted bail on medical grounds as his health condition continues to deteriorate.
The Logical Indian’s Navya Singh spoke to Senior Lawyer Anand Grover who represents Varavara Rao in the case to get more details.
Watch video

Podcast: Bhima Koregoan violence – Three years on, Activists remain arrested and justice remain awaited

Podcast: Bhima Koregoan violence – Three years on, Activists remain arrested and justice remain awaited

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

By On Record

Three years after the caste violence in Bhima Koregoan, 16 human right activists have been arrested under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in connection with the case. Multiple conspiracy theories have been laid out by the police but it may be long before they are proved and the guilty is punished.
Professor Apoorvanand from Delhi University and Harish Vasudevan, an advocate practicing at Kerala High court share their insights for the story.
Listen to podcast (11:00min)

Bhima Koregaon case: Three years of legal and rights violations

Bhima Koregaon case: Three years of legal and rights violations

Newslaundry / by Prateek Goyal

The violation of the rights of the activists, lawyers and scholars, disregard for rules and misuse of law has marked the case since the very beginning.
Maharashtra’s prisons routinely provide TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, cellphones, and homemade food to hardcore criminals and politicians. Yet, they refused to give a drinking straw to Stan Swamy, an 83-year-old scholar and activist awaiting trial. The police also denied a request to allow the family of Gautam Navlakha, who is 70, to send him prescription glasses. The courts were petitioned but they did little to help.
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Unfair To Target A Lawyer For Appearing For A Particular Client: Justice Lokur

Unfair To Target A Lawyer For Appearing For A Particular Client: Justice Lokur

‘Unfair To Target A Lawyer For Appearing For A Particular Client’: Justice Lokur

21/11/2020

Live Law / by Radhika Roy

I think that it’s unfair to target a lawyer for appearing for a particular client”, said Justice (Retd.) Madan B. Lokur, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India at a virtual session hosted by Delhi High Court Women Lawyers Forum and Women in Criminal Law Association.
“If a lawyer is dealing with hundreds of COFEPOSA cases, you can’t say that he is also a smuggler. I don’t think the Judge should ever get involved in the relationship between a lawyer and a client”, the judge commented.
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Video: Justice (retd.) Madan Lokur speaks on „Defending Liberties“

20/11/2020


en | 1h 29min | 2020

By Bar & Bench

The former Supreme Court judge is speaking at a virtual discussion hosted by the Delhi High Court Women Lawyers Forum and WCLA.
Former Supreme Court Judge, Justice (retd.) Madan Lokur is speaking on the theme Defending Liberties in a virtual discussion to be hosted by the Delhi High Court Women Lawyers Forum and WCLA. Justice (retd.) Lokur will interact with Warisha Farasat, Tara Narula, Shalini Gera and Sowjhanya Shankaran during the discussion.
Watch video
Read tweets/summaries by Live Law

Law and the Subversion of Justice in India

Law and the Subversion of Justice in India

Institute of Postcolonial Studies / by Yug Mohit Chaudhry

While purporting to investigate the Hindutva-fuelled riots of 1st January 2018 following the Elgaar Parishad commemoration of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon, an iconic event in Dalit historiography, the state has imprisoned some highly respected intellectuals, scholars and social activists…
Many of these sixteen are role models and heroes of our times: they have sacrificed themselves for the weak and the poor, deepened democracy, and given dignity and meaning to those surviving on the margins of existence ignored by successive governments. If at all they erred, it was in excess of love for those they served.
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