Arun Shourie on Friday said the best lawyers in the country should not represent alleged terrorists awaiting trial as their cases become stronger after such legal supports.
NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha member and former Union Minister Arun Shourie on Friday said the best lawyers in the country should not represent alleged terrorists awaiting trial as their cases become stronger after such legal supports.
"Best lawyers should not be made available to criminals, smugglers and terrorists. The fact that terrorists and criminals get legal support from the best of our advocates makes their cases stronger," Shourie said while speaking at a conference on terrorism and national security here.
His comments gained significance in view of media reports stating that no lawyer is ready to take up the case of Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone arrested terrorist who wreaked havoc in Mumbai recently.
When asked if any special provision should be introduced in the Constitution to thwart lawyers from fighting cases for persons accused of being involved in terror activities, he
said, "No, it cannot be enforced by law as they will have their own arguments that no one can be declared a terrorist until the charges are proved."
Shourie said a strong public pressure in this regard can make the lawyers take up an initiative on their own to abstain from defending the terrorists.
The former Union Minister also disagreed with suggestions that the government should have separate fast-track courts to handle terrorism-related cases.
"In India, action only comes when problem erupts. We form committees, then commissions and then institutions. After some time, that institution becomes a problem for us," he said adding, "The need is to sensitise the legal system against the terrorists."
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