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| Kashmir Bar's decision unethical | | | The decision of Kashmir Bar Association to ban any member of their
fraternity to take up the defence of the accused in the notorious
Srinagar sex scandal and use coercive methods against any lawyer from
Jammu and even outside the state appearing on behalf of the accused is
unethical and against their professional norms. The Deputy Chief
Minister, Muzaffar Hussain Baigh who is also the Law Minister and
himself a legal luminary and was a top practising lawyer of Kashmir
before joining the ministry, has rendered a highly reasonable and
sound advise to the lawyers of Kashmir to let the legal course in the
matter take its own course. Every accused person, involved in any
heinous or severe crime has the right to defend himself and engage a
lawyer of his choice for his defence. Any obstruction and denial of
this right to the accused is violation of his fundamental rights as
well as violation of human rights. The action of Kashmir Bar
Association is not only unethical, but also against Article 21 of
Indian constitution, which gives the right of defence and right to
engage a lawyer to all. By denying this right to the accused and
indulging in hooliganism against a Jammu lawyer, Sunil Sethi who
wanted to appear in the Court in defence of his brother, Anil Sethi
who is one of the accused in the case, the Kashmir Bar Association has
brought slur on the noble profession. Their action can also prove
counter productive in establishing the guilt of the accused, without
scope of any doubt. By using cohesive methods against the lawyers who
want to appear for an accused in the case KBA is only paving the way
for transfer of the trial from Kashmir to some other place. The
accused persons can invoke jurisdiction of Supreme Court under Article
32 of Indian constitution and also the jurisdiction of J&K High Court
under Article 226. While the crime committed by all those involved in
the scandal is highly serious and heinous and morally they stand
condemned for the immoral act, yet they have the right to defend
themselves and prove their innocence in the case. According to the
concept of natural justice no accused can be deemed as guilty of the
offence unless the charge stands proved against him. The case is
purely immoral and offence against the society and those against whom
the guilt stands established after the completion of the legal
process, deserve severest punishment as well as social stigma. But by
politicizing the issue and under its garb trying to give boost to the
separatist and secessionist trends prevailing in the valley, the
Kashmir Bar Association as well as the secessionist outfits are
creating division in the society and turning many those, who otherwise
equally feel a sense of outrage over the incident, to develop some
sympathy for the accused. Any attempt to malign the Indian judicial
system and interpret the sexual exploitation of some innocent girls by
a handful of politicians, high bureaucrats and security personnel, as
the outcome of the oppressive act of the forces of occupation etc will
only defeat the real objective of exposing and socially condemning the
elements involved in the crime.
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