HOUSE OF 'KASAB'S LAWYER VANDALISED

HOUSE OF 'KASAB'S LAWYER VANDALISED 18 Dec 2008, 0124 hrs IST, Kartikeya & Sukhada Tatke, TNN MUMBAI: Two days after lawyer K B N Lam moved an application in a session's court expressing his willingness to defend arrested Pakistani terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Kasab in a court, two unidentified men vandalized his Breach Candy home on Wednesday morning. It is the third time an advocate willing to represent Kasab was targeted. Police said the incident occurred around 11am when Lam was at home. "Two persons in their mid-20s barged into the house after Lam's servant opened the door,'' said ACP Sadashiv Patil. "They threw a china clay statue on the floor and broke a lamp shade. They also smashed two shelves. They fled within 2-3 minutes. Lam was in the bathroom.'' Lam was aware that he could be targeted by some people for taking up Kasab's case. "I know I could be ostracized by some and pray that physical attacks don't happen,'' the lawyer, who holds a degree in economics from the London University and has practised law in Mumbai for the past two decades, had told TOI on Monday. Asked why he was not given protection, Patil said, "We didn't know where he lived. But now we will give him adequate protection.'' "We don't suspect the role of a political party,'' said a senior police officer explaining that party members usually come in hordes. "We are probing the matter and based on the version of two servants at the house, we are getting sketches of the two attackers made,'' he said, adding that a case of trespass and mischief has been registered. Human rights activist Mihir Desai said no one should be allowed to interfere with the rights of a lawyer, who is just doing his duty as a professional. "Police must act,'' he said. Bombay Parsi Punchayat chairperson Dinshaw Mehta said, "Kasab isn't a person who needs to be represented by anybody. Why should Lam do so? Terrorists should be denounced by everybody.'' Condemning the attack, Rajiv Patil, chairperson of the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, said, "Why just an advocate, we are against attacks on anybody. But at the same time, we're concerned that lawyers may be soliciting clients through the press. Ideally, the brief should come from the litigant to the lawyer and not the other way round,'' he said. READY TO DEFEND These are the lawyers who have volunteered to appear for Kasab in court * P Janardhanan: A former associate advocate-general of Maharashtra, Janardhanan was one of the lawyers in the Ramesh Kini murder case * KBN Lam: Has been a barrister at London's famous Lincoln's Inn and currently teaches law at Government Law College and K C Law College WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS A couple of lawyers initially expressed willingness to fight for Kasab but later withdrew in the face of protests * Ashok Sarogi: Shiv Sena activists protested outside Sarogi's home and he had to give in writing that he would not appear for Kasab; he said he had only stated that Kasab had the right to be represented by a lawyer. Sarogi has represented gangster Abu Salem earlier * Mahesh Deshmukh: Offered to be Kasab's lawyer but subsequently withdrew WON'T FIGHT A member of the state's legal aid panel has refused to fight for Kasab • Dinesh Mota: A criminal lawyer for 24 years, was asked to appear for Kasab but he refused. "Mumbai is my family. How can I be Kasab's lawyer?'' Would you call Kasab's Indian defence lawyer a traitor?

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