We, the undersigned lawyers practicing in Mumbai, condemn the undignified behavior of our professional colleagues in the Patiala House Court Complex, Delhi during this week. As members of the legal fraternity we are ashamed of their conduct which is neither becoming of the dignity of the profession nor as citizens of a free and democratic country. This is nothing but tyranny and mockery of a system we took an oath to practice in.
We practice in a system that recognizes freedom of speech and expression and a right to be represented before a court. As officers of the court and upholders of law it is not becoming of us lawyers to engage or indulge in such acts of assaulting, beating up and intimidating people within or outside the Court premises. The conduct of assaulting any citizen of the country is not only taking law into our hands but proclaiming that we have no faith in justice and the very legal system we practice in.
Freedom of speech and expression is the very foundation of our practice and if these very rights and freedoms are curtailed it threatens the edifice of our profession.
A fundamental principle of law is that everyone is innocent till proven guilty and by such unbecoming conduct we are declaring the entire process of law infructuous. If guilt were to be decided outside the court, through popular sentiment the entire judicial process would be rendered meaningless. We as practitioners of law must desist from such conduct and uphold the dignity of the profession.
We write this open letter with the hope, that our fellow lawyers will respect and uphold the dignity of our profession.
- Anil Anturkar, Sr. Counsel
- Aspi Chinoy, Sr. Counsel
- Dinyar Madon, Sr. Counsel
- E. P Bharucha, Sr. Counsel
- Gayatri Singh, Sr. Counsel
- Janak Dwarkadas, Sr. Counsel
- Mihir Desai, Sr. Counsel
- Milind Sathe, Sr. Counsel
- Navroz Seervai, Sr. Counsel
- Rahul Narichania, Sr. Counsel
- Rajani Iyer, Sr. Counsel
- Ravi Kadam, Sr. Counsel
- Sanjay Singhvi, Sr. Counsel
- Shirish Gupte, Sr. Counsel
- Shyam Mehta, Sr. Counsel
- Venkatesh Dhond, Sr. Counsel
- Adv. Aabad Ponda
- Adv. Aayush Tainwala
- Adv. Abdul Bari Ansari
- Adv. Abhilasha Sharma
- Adv. Abhinav Tiwari
- Adv. Aditya Swarup
- Adv. Afreen Khan
- Adv. Anita Castellino
- Adv. Apeksha Parekh
- Adv. Archana Rupwate
- Adv. Arshad Shaikh
- Adv. Arun Ferrera
- Adv. Asadulla A Sayed
- Adv. Asha Rudiyal
- Adv. Ayaz Shaikh
- Adv. Bruno Castellino
- Adv. Butul A Sayed
- Adv. D. British
- Adv. Deepa Chhabria
- Adv. Farhana Latief
- Adv. Flavia Agnes
- Adv. Hemant B. Kumar
- Adv. Hemant Ingle
- Adv. Imtiyaz Shaikh
- Adv. Irene Sequeira
- Adv. Jalaja Nambiar
- Adv. Jaya Menon
- Adv. Kanika Joshi
- Adv. Karl Tamboli
- Adv. Kranti LC
- Adv. Lara Jesani
- Adv. Maharukh Adenwalla
- Adv. Maneck Mulla
- Adv. Mani Prakash
- Adv. Manoj M Kadam
- Adv. Medha Deo
- Adv. Meenaz Kakalia
- Adv. Mini Mathew
- Adv. Monica Sakhrani
- Adv. Mridula kadam
- Adv. Mussadique Shaikh
- Adv. Naushad Engineer
- Adv. Nausheen Yousuf
- Adv. Nikhil Sakhardande
- Adv. Nilima Dutta
- Adv. Nita Bhatia
- Adv. Persis Sidhva
- Adv. Pradeep mandhyan
- Adv. Prajakta Keni
- Adv. Pranali Pawar
- Adv. Priyank Kapadia
- Adv. Raju Moray
- Adv. Rebecca Gonsalves
- Adv. Riddhi Dadia
- Adv. Robin Fernandes
- Adv. Roshni Tandale
- Adv. S M Algaus
- Adv. Sangeena Aliyar
- Adv. Sanober Keshwaar
- Adv. Sarah Kapadia
- Adv. Sarosh Bharuch
- Adv. Saumya Brajmohan
- Adv. Scherezad Parelvala
- Adv. Shalini Devi
- Adv. Sharan Jagtiani
- Adv. Sharmila Kaushik
- Adv. Shonottra H. Kumar
- Adv. Shrey Fatterpekar
- Adv. Shreya Jha
- Adv. Shruti Jadhav
- Adv. Shweta Moray
- Adv. Siddha Pamecha
- Adv. Somasekhar Sundaresan
- Adv. Sonal Waingankar
- Adv. Sumangala Biradar
- Adv. Sunil R Pandey
- Adv. Surabhi Singh
- Adv. Suraj Sanap
- Adv. Suresh Rajeshwar
- Adv. Susan Abraham
- Adv. Swaraj Jadhav
- Adv. T. Parakkadan
- Adv. Utkarsh Mishra
- Adv. Veena Gowda
- Adv. Veena Johari
- Adv. Vidhi Kotak
- Adv. Vijay Hiremath
- Adv. Vinamra Kopariha
- Adv. Yug Mohit Chaudhry
- Adv. Zaman Ali