Posted by The Law and Society Committee’s broad mandate spans the socio-legal analysis of contemporary national and international events – to foster awareness and appreciation of law and policy in a more real and tangible sense.
Over the last couple of years, we have had the opportunity and good fortunes of inviting several academicians, scholars, and luminaries in law policy and academia (such as Ms. Indira Jaising, Mr. P. Sainath, Ms. Usha Ramanathan, and Mr. Gautam Bhatia among others) – to speak on a number of topical issues (such as the CAA-NRC protests, Transformative Constitutionalism, Domestic Violence during COVID, etc.).
Over this year we have also been a part of publishing “The Gendered Contagion” in association with the Centre for Women and the Law at the NLSIU.
About the Event
On the 5th of July, we heard of the heart-wrenching news about the demise of Father Stan Swamy. Father Stan Swamy, being a tribal rights activist, worked for decades on various issues relating to land, forest, and labor rights faced by Adivasi communities.
Last year, Father Stan was arrested, under the despotic Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, on the suspicion of ties to an outlaw radical left-wing group, accused of Instigating the Bhima-Koregoan Riots in Maharashtra back in 2018.
He was repeatedly denied bail by the NIA courts despite his age and degrading health. In memory of Father Stan’s struggle against the UAPA, the Law and Society Committee seeks to organize a discussion around the bail jurisprudence under the UAPA.
The talk could not only illuminate the legal status of ongoing detentions under the UAPA but also contextualize recent developments in UAPA bail jurisprudence such as the release of Pinja-Tod activists by the Delhi High Court. We are honored to host eminent speakers who can help shed light on the subject of “JAIL IS THE RULE: BAIL JURISPRUDENCE UNDER THE UAPA”.
The event will be led by Sr. Adv. Ms. Rebecca John (Supreme Court of India), Sr. Adv Mr. Mihir Desai (Bombay HC, Co-founder, Indian People’s Tribunal (IPT) and the Human Rights Law Network), and Adv Mr. Abhinav Sekhri (Harvard 2018, NLSIU 2014, Associate at the Chambers of Adv Siddharth Agarwal, Delhi HC).
Details of the Event
The event is scheduled for the 10th of July (Saturday) starting at 5:00 pm. The meeting will be in a Webinar format with the Q/A option enabled, we also plan to have a brief Question & Answer Session after all of the Speakers have presented their points; we hope to conclude the Q&A session in about 20-30 minutes.
Ms. Megha Mehta, the former Judicial Law Clerk to Late Justice M. M. Shantanagoudar, has agreed to moderate the discussion and the Q&A Session.
Name of the event: “Jail Is The Rule: Bail Jurisprudence Under The UAPA”.
Date and Time: 5:00 pm, July 10th
About the Speakers
Ms. Rebecca John, Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India: Senior Advocate Ms. Rebecca John has 35 years of experience in trial advocacy – and has argued bail cases under the UAPA and other special legislation such as the MCOCA and the PMLA.
We hope that her invaluable experience can help us better understand the judicial attitude towards bail applications under special legislations, and how it differs from bail applications under the CrPC. We also look forward to hearing about the challenges a trial advocate faces while handling such cases in the court of the first instance and grappling with the prosecution.
Mr. Mihir Desai, Senior Advocate at the Bombay High Court: Mr. Mihir Desai, being a human rights advocate, has handled many cases relating to fake encounters, riots, custodial deaths by the police, freedom of speech, police brutality, political activists, and prisoners of conscience, excesses by the state, mass murders and genocide probes. As counsel to Father Stan Swamy, Senior Advocate Mr. Mihir Desai is best placed to share with us his experience arguing the case.
Details from the case were widely publicized and insight into Father Stan’s detention and deteriorating health can help us understand the reality of a UAPA detention, beyond the text of the law. We also seek Mr. Desai’s comments on other contemporary developments in the law and his thoughts on how it may evolve in the future.
Mr. Abhinav Sekhri, Advocate at the Delhi High Court: Mr. Abhinav Sekhri is a criminal law advocate, who recently appeared before the Delhi High Court to argue Asif Iqbal Tanha’s bail application. This application is what was materialized as a bail order releasing Mr. Tanha, Ms. Devangana Kalita, and Ms. Natasha Narwal from State custody. We hope that his experience arguing the case could illustrate the Court’s historic bail order and the direction this gives to bail jurisprudence under the UAPA. His scholarship on the subject could also contextualize this discussion
Contact Information
E-mail ID: lawsoc@nls.ac.in
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