On January 3, 2025, NIA Court Special Judge Vivekanand Saran Tripathi (V.S. Tripathi) convicted 28 Muslim community convicts and sentenced them to life imprisonment in the brutal murder case of Chandan Gupta alias Abhishek in Kasganj on January 26, 2018. The brutal murder was committed by members of the Muslim community during Chandan’s Tiranga Yatra.
Along with the life sentence, Justice Tripathi has raised another important issue in his judgment, namely the willingness of lawyers to appear for anyone for money! This issue has never been commented on by the Supreme Court or the High Court judges so far.
While pronouncing the sentence, Justice Tripathi raised questions about the involvement of domestic and foreign NGOs in protecting the criminals and has sent a copy of his order to the Union Home Ministry and the Bar Council of India to curb these.
Justice Tripathi said in his order, “*A thorough investigation is required into where these NGOs are coming from, who is funding them and what is their ultimate objective. It is alleged that whenever a terrorist is caught, such NGOs immediately send lawyers who charge a lot of money to defend him. This is a national security concern.”
The court has named the following 7 NGOs/organizations in its order:
1. Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mumbai
2. People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Delhi
3. Rihai Manch
4. Alliance for Justice and Accountability, New York
5. Indian American Muslim Council, Washington D.C.
6. South Asia Solidarity Group, London
7. Jamiat Ulema Hind
Judge Tripathi’s order is truly historic and he has made a similar request to the government. The fees of the lawyers practicing in the High Court and the Supreme Court should be made public and their asset declarations should be published for public information. They should also declare how much income tax they have paid every year; lawyers’ fees should be collected only through cheque/bank transfer; an affidavit should be obtained from the principal lawyers of the Supreme Court regarding the receipt of lawyer fees, so that it is clear which terrorist organisation was funded.
This historic order by Justice Tripathi should be welcomed and supported by all patriotic Indians!
Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay’s petition seeking deportation of Rohingya Bangladeshi infiltrators has been pending since 2017.
Six top lawyers appeared in the Supreme Court on behalf of two Rohingyas, Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shakir, who appeared to be beggars and living in squalid conditions. These lawyers are – Dr. Rajiv Dhawan, Prashant Bhushan, Dr. Ashwini Kumar, Colin Gonsalves, Mayank Fali Nariman and Kapil Sibal.*
10 prominent senior lawyers are opposing the petition of advocate Ashwini Upadhyay to stop forced conversion.
Upadhyay’s petition opposing the Places of Worship Act is being opposed by 22 senior lawyers. These include MPs, MLAs and former Law Ministers, Home Ministers, External Affairs Ministers and Education Ministers.
The petition has been pending for a long time by such senior lawyers.
In October 2024 alone, another NGO – Social Jurist, filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, seeking an order from the Central Government to allow “children of Rohingya refugees” to enter public schools.
The High Court dismissed the petition, saying that the Rohingyas are foreigners and have entered the country without legal permission and are a threat to the security of the country. However, the NGO approached the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court said that the Rohingya children will be provided with education.
There are many such lawyers and NGOs, the funding of all of them should be investigated.
For the sake of the country, please share this message as much as possible, so that the autocratic and insensitive judiciary is held accountable.
