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NEW DELHI: A gaggle of retired civil servants have lamented the “assault” on the rule of regulation in India and urged each Indian to “unite” in defence of Article 19 the Indian Constitution, which protects freedom of speech and expression, pointing to the criticism of arrests of certain persons, together with the accused in Delhi riots circumstances.
Referring to important experiences by impartial specialists and particular rapporteurs related to United Nations, concerning the arrest of 11 individuals like Kafeel Khan, Safoora Zargar, Akhil Gogoi and Sharjeel Imam, 99 former bureaucrats, writing beneath the banner of ‘Constitutional Conduct Group’, have in an open letter referred to as for the rights to freedom of speech, expression and meeting as assured by Article 19 of the Constitution.
The signatories, together with Shiv Shankar Menon, Vappala Balachandran, Jawahar Sircar, Wajahat Habibullah, Shyam Saran, Najeeb Jung and Trilochan Singh amongst others, mentioned Public Interest Litigation gave voice to the suppressed on points like bonded labour, baby labour and the illiterate with out work or meals discovering resonance within the corridors of energy and Article 19 of the Indian Constitution is “key in this struggle”.
“The rampant erosion of the rule of law in evidence today militates against the actualisation of the freedom of speech which is the cornerstone of democratic functioning. The gulf between the rule of law rhetoric and reality is getting wider and wider. The police establishments across the country appear to have become proxies for the respective ruling parties,” says the open letter.
The letter additionally raises considerations over India’s deteriorating efficiency on the press freedom index of Reporters with out Borders, the place it has fallen 5 locations since 2015 to land at 142 out of 180 international locations in 2020. “Any criticism of the government is considered “anti-national” and invitations punitive wrath.
The regulation of sedition, itself a colonial relic, is resorted to by a succession of governments, however its software has sharply elevated. From 2016 to 2018, 332 individuals have been arrested beneath this regulation however solely 7 convicted, exposing the absence of proof and train of vendetta,” the previous bureaucrats mentioned, citing circumstances of journalists and activists being focused with stringent legal guidelines like UAPA for elevating voice in opposition to the federal government.
Referring to important experiences by impartial specialists and particular rapporteurs related to United Nations, concerning the arrest of 11 individuals like Kafeel Khan, Safoora Zargar, Akhil Gogoi and Sharjeel Imam, 99 former bureaucrats, writing beneath the banner of ‘Constitutional Conduct Group’, have in an open letter referred to as for the rights to freedom of speech, expression and meeting as assured by Article 19 of the Constitution.
The signatories, together with Shiv Shankar Menon, Vappala Balachandran, Jawahar Sircar, Wajahat Habibullah, Shyam Saran, Najeeb Jung and Trilochan Singh amongst others, mentioned Public Interest Litigation gave voice to the suppressed on points like bonded labour, baby labour and the illiterate with out work or meals discovering resonance within the corridors of energy and Article 19 of the Indian Constitution is “key in this struggle”.
“The rampant erosion of the rule of law in evidence today militates against the actualisation of the freedom of speech which is the cornerstone of democratic functioning. The gulf between the rule of law rhetoric and reality is getting wider and wider. The police establishments across the country appear to have become proxies for the respective ruling parties,” says the open letter.
The letter additionally raises considerations over India’s deteriorating efficiency on the press freedom index of Reporters with out Borders, the place it has fallen 5 locations since 2015 to land at 142 out of 180 international locations in 2020. “Any criticism of the government is considered “anti-national” and invitations punitive wrath.
The regulation of sedition, itself a colonial relic, is resorted to by a succession of governments, however its software has sharply elevated. From 2016 to 2018, 332 individuals have been arrested beneath this regulation however solely 7 convicted, exposing the absence of proof and train of vendetta,” the previous bureaucrats mentioned, citing circumstances of journalists and activists being focused with stringent legal guidelines like UAPA for elevating voice in opposition to the federal government.
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