Dear Friends, herebelow see the news in The Time of India,
NEW DELHI: Believing in the basic premise of justice and fairplay that every accused is entitled to the best defense, a Delhi lawyer says he is willing to fight for Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist caught alive in the Mumbai attack.
M. Shanwar Khan, who has successfully defended six people accused in terror-related cases, believes it is for the courts to decide whether a person is a terrorist or not. "I believe in strengthening our legal system, so there is nothing wrong in defending Kasab. The court has to decide whether he is a terrorist or not, and till then he has a right to request for legal assistance," said Khan.
"I have defended 20 people accused of being terrorists and have been successful in getting six of them acquitted. The rest of the cases are pending in various courts of Delhi," Khan said, adding that Section 202 and 203 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of India says that an accused in India is entitled to the right to defense.
"If people like Dara Singh (convicted for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines), Lt Col Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya (accused in Sep 29 Malegaon blast) and Nalini (serving life imprisonment for involvement in Rajiv Gandhi's assassination) can all be given legal aid, then why not Kasab?" he asked.
Khan started his practice nine years ago along with his father M Khan and says he has learnt a lot from him. "People often misunderstand my father, but I know him as one of the finest lawyers and a good human being. He often fought cases without charging anything. He believed in the legal process and didn't discriminate between cases," said Khan of his late father.
His list of clients includes those accused of planting improvised explosive devices near the Border Security Force (BSF) headquarters and Sena Bhavan in the capital in 2002.
On what he feels about terrorism, Khan said: "I am also hurt when terrorists kill innocent people as they did in Delhi and Mumbai. Anyone who commits such acts of terrorism against our country must be given the harshest punishment."
here the few comments from the readers.......
puneet,Hyderabad,says:some one should tell this "educated" person that when he talks about Dara Singh , Lt Col Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya and Nalini, they are all Indian citizens, Kasab is a pakistani ,this man clearly specialises in defending terrorists .I cannot understand why we need to spend precious time and money to go thru a long legal process and wait for someone to Hijack another plane to get kasab released as well.
[31 Dec, 2008 1525hrs IST]
ravindranath,hyderabad,says:It is too bad to hear that the lawyers are trying to defend a person, who caught red-handed while killing people in Mumbai attacks. Every lawyer should have some responsibility for the country which should be above his personal feelings. They should raise above their community and should think about innocent people, who died on that black day.
[31 Dec, 2008 1514hrs IST]
gaurav,Delhi,says:Somebody tell this guy(khan) that he might be the next victim if kasab is set free..............
[31 Dec, 2008 1513hrs IST]
ankur,Pune, Maharashtra,says:It is unfortunate that someone from our country is willing to provide legal support to Kasab, the person who has taken lives of several innocent peoples.The matter of such magnitude shall be treated seperately without talking much about them sympathetically. It is the time when we all shall stand firm on our stand of no mercy towards any act of barbarism which is against sovereignty of people of India. We will definitely not allow provision of legal support to Kasab. Such lawyers shall be shown their respective positions. We are against providing legal support to Kasab.
[31 Dec, 2008 1510hrs IST]
Vijay Ahuja,New Delhi,says:Fair legal trial for every Indian is their fundamental right but if and only if no unfair means are used by the defence lawyer M Khan who claims to have an unusual success rate of acquittals (Although Kasab ,being pakistani,is getting the same on humanitarian grounds). Law should follow its own course expeditely and if found guilty should punish the perpetrators of terrorism not only them but also the person who abet the terrorism. Special fast track courts should conduct trial on daily basis of terror cases and law enforcement agencies should professionally gather evidence against terrorist which should stand scrutiny of law so that no terrorist can mock our judicial system and no enemy country should plan their freedom by kidnapping our civilians.
[31 Dec, 2008 1525hrs IST]
ravindranath,hyderabad,says:It is too bad to hear that the lawyers are trying to defend a person, who caught red-handed while killing people in Mumbai attacks. Every lawyer should have some responsibility for the country which should be above his personal feelings. They should raise above their community and should think about innocent people, who died on that black day.
[31 Dec, 2008 1514hrs IST]
gaurav,Delhi,says:Somebody tell this guy(khan) that he might be the next victim if kasab is set free..............
[31 Dec, 2008 1513hrs IST]
ankur,Pune, Maharashtra,says:It is unfortunate that someone from our country is willing to provide legal support to Kasab, the person who has taken lives of several innocent peoples.The matter of such magnitude shall be treated seperately without talking much about them sympathetically. It is the time when we all shall stand firm on our stand of no mercy towards any act of barbarism which is against sovereignty of people of India. We will definitely not allow provision of legal support to Kasab. Such lawyers shall be shown their respective positions. We are against providing legal support to Kasab.
[31 Dec, 2008 1510hrs IST]
Vijay Ahuja,New Delhi,says:Fair legal trial for every Indian is their fundamental right but if and only if no unfair means are used by the defence lawyer M Khan who claims to have an unusual success rate of acquittals (Although Kasab ,being pakistani,is getting the same on humanitarian grounds). Law should follow its own course expeditely and if found guilty should punish the perpetrators of terrorism not only them but also the person who abet the terrorism. Special fast track courts should conduct trial on daily basis of terror cases and law enforcement agencies should professionally gather evidence against terrorist which should stand scrutiny of law so that no terrorist can mock our judicial system and no enemy country should plan their freedom by kidnapping our civilians.
finally ok what about our stand on this ....??????? i want to know from all of you..
