Former Supreme Court judges Aftab Alam, Madan B Lokur, Gopala Gowda and Deepak Gupta on Saturday raised concerns on the misuse of anti-ter...
Former Supreme Court judges Aftab Alam, Madan B Lokur, Gopala Gowda and Deepak Gupta on Saturday raised concerns on the misuse of anti-terrorism laws in India, reported The Hindu.
Justice Gupta said the courts should intervene and lay down guidelines on the use of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. “The UAPA should not remain in this form,” he said. Gupta was speaking at a virtual conference on “Democracy Dissent and Draconian Laws – do UAPA and sedition have a place in our statute books”, organised by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms.
The retired judge noted that Manipur activist Erendro Leichombam was arrested on charges of sedition for speaking out against cow urine being promoted as a cure for Covid-19. He asked whether we were living in a “police state”.
Leichombam and Manipur journalist Kishorchandra Wangkhem were arrested for their comments on May 13. On May 17, an Imphal court granted them bail, but before they could be released, the government invoked the National Security Act.
Leichombam and Wangkhem were granted bail this week with different courts observing that their continued detention was in violation of the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
On Saturday, Gupta also spoke about the death of 84-year-old tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, who died...
