Advocates who are defending political prisoners have to brunt of the police.
The Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL), a Mumbai-based organisation, has raised its voice against frequent attacks against human rights lawyers who are allegedly openly targeted by the government and police for defending tribals in Chattisgarh. IAPL has prepared a fact-finding report on such assault cases, which will be released during a protest demonstration on Tuesday. According to the report, advocates who are defending “political prisoners” as well as Chhattisgarh locals, have to bear the brunt of the police, which includes false cases against the aforementioned.
The report reads that such an environment is created in the Bastar district of Chattisgarh that advocates are persistently avoided by their community and their colleagues. “These lawyers, some of whom are members of IAPL, are hounded because they defend alleged Maoists, or because their family members have been arrested for Naxal activities, or because they raise before the courts issues regarding police atrocities. There is a deliberate design by the administration to terrorise and/or threaten advocates into withdrawing their appearance for those accused of Naxal activities. Lawyers are identified with their client’s causes when discharging their professional duties,” reads the report.
The report elaborates on three advocates who were harassed by the local police. Advocate Satendrakumar Chaubey who has been practising since 1996, and who was appearing for the villagers accused of attacking Bargaon police station in Ambikapur, was branded as a Naxalite. The police had raided his house, but they allegedly failed to find anything incriminating. He was arrested in 1999 from Jharkhand and was behind bars for three months.
The papers of his clients were allegedly seized and tagged as Naxal material, which is being probed by the National Investigation Agency. People had therefore stopped visiting his place.
The second example cited is that of advocate Amarnath Pandey who brought the alleged fake encounter case of Narayan Khairwal, alleged zonal commander of the Maoist, to the notice of the High Court. He was allegedly threatened by the local police to such an extent that he had leave his village for six months.
The third case cited is that of advocate Rekha Praganiya, wife of Dipak Kumar, who practices in Durg district of Chhattisgarh, and was arrested on March 4, 2012, a few days after Dipak was arrested from Kolkata in a Naxal related case investigated by NIA. Due to Dipak’s case, their one-room home was searched for seven to eight hours, and the incriminating evidence found against her were the case papers of her client.
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