Top lawyer throws weight behind protesting students; legal notice to police

“Wherever they (students facing criminal action) need me, I will appear for them in court. My team will appear for them pro bono,” said leading criminal lawyer Satish Maneshinde

Mumbai: Leading criminal lawyer Satish Maneshinde on Thursday said that he would support students facing criminal action for participating in protests in Shivaji Park and other parts of the city, demanding government accountability over recent competitive examination paper leaks.

The Mumbai police have till now registered 16 FIRs against protesting students for alleged unlawful assembly and other offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Maharashtra Police Act (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo)

Speaking with Hindustan Times, Maneshinde said that the first information reports (FIRs) registered by the police against protesting students had no legal basis.

“I have been a student myself and continue to be one. What the students are agitating for is the cleansing of the education system, particularly how examinations are conducted. They have been protesting peacefully. There has been no violence in Mumbai at least. If the police have gone to the extent of arresting innocent people or threatening them with arrest, it’s really shocking,” the senior advocate said.

The Mumbai police have till now registered 16 FIRs against protesting students for alleged unlawful assembly and other offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Maharashtra Police Act. All the FIRs have been clubbed at the Shivaji Park police station, and notices have also been issued to numerous student protestors, though there is no clarity yet on the total number.

Referring to other political rallies often held on roads without necessary police permissions, Maneshinde said there was no reason for the police to take “harsh measures” against students in similar circumstances.

“Nine hundred students were detained for what? A large number of students approached me through their organisations. Wherever they need me, I will appear for them in court. My team will appear for them pro bono,” he said. “Instead of correcting the system, they are threatening students.”

Maneshinde is among Mumbai’s top criminal defence lawyers and has represented celebrities such as Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan and Aryan Khan in court. He is now among several lawyers who have extended legal assistance to students facing detention and criminal action over participation in the recent protests.

Notice to home dept, police

On Thursday, lawyer and Shiv Sena (UBT) member Sagar Devre sent a legal notice to the state home department and the Mumbai police, alleging that the police action on students protesting at Shivaji Park was arbitrary and excessive.

Participants in the protests were students in schools, colleges and universities, the notice said. “The pendency of criminal proceedings has serious consequences on their education, scholarships, campus placements, competitive examinations, passport applications, visa applications, overseas education and future employment. Young students exercising their democratic rights cannot be subjected to lifelong prejudice merely because they participated in a peaceful protest,” it stated.

Notices served to students who had participated in the July 20 protest in Shivaji Park – coinciding with the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)-led march to the Parliament in New Delhi – and instructions that they report to the police station the next day had caused “immense fear and anxiety” among them and their families, the notice said, and cited instances of minors detained at police stations allegedly in violation of the Juvenile Justice Act.

Women were also detained at police stations past 6pm, which was against statutory norms, the notice said.

The notice demanded that CCTV footage, station diary registers, lock-up and detention registers, duty rosters, and other documents from all police stations where protesters were detained be provided within 24 hours, failing which students would move the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the FIRs lodged against them.

Criminal law cannot be made an instrument to suppress peaceful expression of opinion, the notice said.