Hubli Bar Association directs its lawyers not to represent three Kashmiri students charged with Sedition

The Hubli Bar Association has passed a resolution stating that none of its advocate members would represent three Kashmiri students recently charged with Sedition for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans..The college students were arrested for posting the slogans on social media a year after the terrorist attack at Pulwama in Kashmir that claimed the lives of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel..The resolution, issued in Kannada, translates that the accused persons had indulged in "anti-national activities" and that no advocate from the Bar Association would be appearing on their behalf. .The Bar Association, through its resolution passed on February 15, further made a request to all advocates in the state to not represent the three students. The Association also wrote to the President of the Karnataka Bar Association in this regard. .It is reported that the three Kashmiri engineering students were released after execution of a bond under Section 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) yesterday..This, however, is not first time that a Bar Association has passed a resolution asking its members to abstain from appearing for a particular person/s. Recently, the Mysuru Bar Association had passed a similar resolution requesting all its members to refrain from appearing for Nalini Balakumar, who was charged with sedition under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for holding a Free Kashmir placard during an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) protest..A few days after the Mysuru Bar Association passed the above resolution barring its members from appearing for Balakumar, around 169 lawyers from the state - including Senior Advocates - signed a Vakalatnama offering to appear for her in court..Last month, a Mysuru court had granted anticipatory bail to Balakumar. While doing so, the judge stated that that the offence alleged against Balakumar is not exclusively punishable with death or imprisonment for life.[Read the Hubli Bar Association Resolution here]