Let the Other Side be Heard as well

The remarks against human rights organisations and NGOs by the NIA sessions court in Lucknow are tantamount to ridiculing natural justice and jurisprudence. The court questioned the motivations of several Indian and international human rights organisations, including the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Alliance for Justice and Accountability (New York) and Citizens for Justice and Peace (Mumbai), behind providing legal aid to accused persons and conducting fact-finding exercises in UAPA cases.It’s a well-established characteristic of civilised society that the denial of legal representation will amount to a violation of natural justice. Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law. Similarly, everyone charged with a criminal offence has the minimum right to be informed promptly, in a language which he understands and in detail, of the nature and cause of the accusation against him, to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence and to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choice or, if he has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require.As the referred organisations were not in any way parties to the court proceedings, what comes out of the reference to them is the growing intolerance towards a group of citizens getting justice in the current Indian political milieu, and this highly condemnable disposition should not be allowed to thrive.