Lawyers strike demanding right of defence of accused

Jammu, Jun 28 (UNI) The Jammu Bar Association (JBA) today went on trike against alleged denial of 'right of defence of an accused' in Srinagar in connection with the high profile sex racket scandal of Kashmir.

The JBA has condemned a threat issued to senior lawyer Sunil Sethi in Srinagar while representing his client Anil Sethi, who is one of the dozen arrested and chargesheeted by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the infamous sex racket recently.

Secretary of the JBA, Abhinav Sharma said, ''All the lawyers associated with our association today went on strike protesting the threat by terrorist outfits to kill Sunil Sethi while he was pleading the case of his brother Anil on Monday''.

Earlier the Kashmir Bar Association (KBA) in Srinagar has announced that no lawyer will be allowed to represent those arrested or chargesheeted in connection with the scandal.

Sharma further said, the JBA is not with the KBA which has issued a blanket ban on its lawyers fighting the cases of the sex scam accused. This is a ''sensitive issue'' and every accused has the right to defend himself in court of law.

''We have called an urgent meeting of our executive body tomorrow to decided the future course of action in this regard. In any democratic set up no one could dare to snatch the right of defence of an accused,'' Sharma said.

Sunil Sethi while talking to UNI said he has also sought security from Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court BA Khan while pleading the case of his brother in Srinagar.

In a letter to the Chief Justice, Advocate Sethi, a practicing lawyer in the state for the last over 17 years, narrated his nightmarish experience in Srinagar on Monday when two unidentified youth intimidated him with a gun asking him not to contest the case of any accused involved in the scandal, even if one among them was his brother.

He further submitted that after KBA forbid its members from appearing as counsel on behalf of any accused including the former Additional Advocate General, hostility was perceptible in the court premises.

Sethi submitted that even a senior advocate Moulvi Ajaz, who dared to appear on behalf of one of the accused, was publicly humiliated and abused in the court premises forcing him to run away without pleading the case of his client.

The senior lawyer further stated, ''I did not say anything to them except that I am compelled by circumstances to defend my real brother''.

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