JOINT STATEMENT REGARDING THE ARREST AND ILLEGAL DETENTION OF SUDHA BHARADWAJ, VISITING PROFESSOR, NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, DELHI
We, the faculty, staff, students and alumni of National Law University, Delhi stand in solidarity with our colleague, professor, and friend, Sudha Bharadwaj who was arrested on 28th August 2018 allegedly in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence, and was held in illegal detention in contravention of the Constitution of India and in defiance of orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Sudha Bharadwaj is an embodiment of the best in our profession – a fearless critic of governmental lawlessness, an emphatic and empathetic advocate amplifying the voices of those who are rarely heard within the corridors of power, and a beacon for future generations of lawyers in this country. Through her advocacy, her teaching, and her life, Sudha Bharadwaj exemplifies the transformative roleofalawyerinasocietylikeours.Wecanonlyhopetobeasbrave,insightfulandconscientiousasher in our work and our daily lives. Citizens like Sudha Bharadwaj are the reason that our democracy lives andthrives.
Her extensive contributions to labour law, development, environment, women’s rights and access to justice has seen Sudha Bharadwaj being invited to the National Judicial Academy, state judicial academies, and also nominated to the governingbodyof the Chhattisgarh State Legal Services Authority. NLU Delhi has been exceptionally fortunate to have benefitted from her presence on the campusandinourclassrooms.IntheyearthatSudhaBharadwajhasbeenatNLU,Delhi,shehasbeen an inspiration for her students and colleagues. Despite her work on redressal of some of the gravest injustices in our country, she maintains an unwavering commitment to the vision of the Constitution and constantly emphasizes the use of constitutional methods in addressinginjustice.
We, law teachers, lawyers, law researchers, and law students, protest against the illegal detention of SudhaBharadwajindefianceoftheordersofthePunjabandHaryanaHighCourt.Yesterday,theHigh CourtorderedthatSudhaBharadwajbekeptatherhomependingthedecision,followingdueprocess, on her transit remand. However, till late in the evening, Sudha Bharadwaj was not taken home, and her whereabouts were not disclosed to her family or her legal team. This blatantly illegal action is evidenceofthevindictivenatureoftheentireexerciseofraidingandarrestinghumanrightslawyers, activists and defenders across thecountry.
We, citizens of India, vehemently oppose the use of the police, government resources and state institutions to systematically target and intimidate human rights defenders who have dedicated their livestoworkingforhumanrights.Thisflagrantabuseofstatepowertopersecuteandendangerthose who uphold the Constitution and its core values threatens the foundation of thisnation.
President Radhakrishnan had urged universities to not be prisoners of the past but to instead be pilgrims of the future. As those dedicated to the task of imagining a better future for this country, we condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the state’s systematic suppression of dissent and the shrinking space for contesting injustice. We demand that the government stop its vendetta against human rights defenders, and recognize the value of dissent in a vibrant democracy.
Signed
S. No. | Name | S. No. | Name | S. No. | Name |
1 | Aparna Chandra Assistant Professor | 21 | Saral Khandelwal Student | 41 | Shreyasi Tripathi Student |
2 | Chinmayi Arun Assistant Professor | 22 | Siddharth Gautam Student | 42 | Prashanth K P Student |
3 | Anup Surendranath Assistant Professor | 23 | Nidhi Pratap Singh Student | 43 | Kaushik Thanugonda Student |
4 | Mrinal Satish Professor | 24 | Devdutta Mukhopadhyay Student | 44 | Tushar Varma Student |
5 | Sophy Assistant Professor | 25 | Aditya Garg Student | 45 | Sahil Malhotra Student |
6 | Arul Scaria George Assistant Professor | 26 | Manisha Bhau Student | 46 | Vanya Bajaj Student |
7 | Daniel Mathew Assistant Professor | 27 | Mahima Jain Student | 47 | Shivkirpal Student |
8 | Jasper Vikas Assistant Professor | 28 | Preksha Sharma Student | 48 | Yashita Gour Student |
9 | Aadarsh Singh Student | 29 | Nitesh Mishra Student | 49 | Shreya Shree Research Fellow |
10 | Malavika Parthasarathy Research Fellow | 30 | Harikartik Ramesh Student | 50 | Tammana Malik Student |
11 | Garvit Chaudhary Student | 31 | Tejaswita Kharel Student | 51 | Surya Vasu Student |
12 | Kaali Prasad Student | 32 | Palash Srivastava Student | 52 | Oshika Student |
13 | Anuj Dubey Student | 33 | Akanshha Agrawal Student | 53 | Pragya Singh Student |
14 | Arpan Verma Student | 34 | Karthik Tayur Student | 54 | Vedangini Bisht Student |
15 | Priyanka Hazarika Alumnus | 35 | Animesh Chaudhary Student | 55 | Ashima Sharma Student |
16 | Kushaan Dosajh Alumnus | 36 | Rakesh Roshan Student | 56 | Saloni Ambastha Student |
17 | Sanchit Saluja Alumnus | 37 | Mohit Chawdhry Alumnus | 57 | Swagat Dash Student |
18 | Sanjana Ravjiani Student | 38 | Vanya Chhabra Alumnus | 58 | Akanksha Mathur Student |
19 | DVL Vidya Student | 39 | Mukul Raizada Assistant Professor | 59 | Madhav Nakra Student |
20 | Vasundhra Student | 40 | Gaurika Khandelwal Student | 60 | Prastuti Tiwari Student |
S. No. | Name | S. No. | Name | S. No. | Name |
61 | Nikhitha Tadigoppula Student | 81 | Harsh Chaudhary Student | 101 | Atishay Dhaker Student |
62 | Kaustub Narendran Student | 82 | Kannan jhunjhunwala Student | 102 | Isha Gupta Student |
63 | Priyamvada Kaushik Student | 83 | Shubham Jain Student | 103 | Mukul Verma Student |
64 | Manav Dhanetiya Student | 84 | Nidhi Khandelwal Student | 104 | Nitisha Raj Student |
65 | Atulya Gupta Student | 85 | Karthik Inzamam Prasad Student | 105 | Sapna Sagar Student |
66 | Amit Verma Student | 86 | Manisha Kawat Student | 106 | Shreya Bhatnagar Student |
67 | Srikari Student | 87 | Padma Venkataraman Student | 107 | Anushka Pandey Student |
68 | Amay Bahri Student | 88 | Varsha Sharma Student | 108 | Aatman Shukla Student |
69 | Anant Sangal Student | 89 | Himaa Student | 109 | Devina Malaviya Alumnus |
70 | Abhishek Kumar Student | 90 | Aayushi Goyal Student | 110 | Subhro Prokas Alumnus |
71 | Nikita Agarwal Alumnus | 91 | Vidushi Student | 111 | Samith Sagaranahalli Alumnus |
72 | Shubham Chaudhary Student | 92 | Nidhi Kumari Student | 112 | Tia Majumdar Student |
73 | Riya Student | 93 | Prashasthi Bhat Student | 113 | Anupriya Dhonchak Student |
74 | Pragya Dwivedi Student | 94 | Pritam Raman Giriya Student | 114 | Lakshya Gupta Alumnus |
75 | Abhay Student | 95 | Aishwarya Gupta Student | 115 | Amber Tickoo Student |
76 | Shubhangi Agarwalla Student | 96 | Aastha Gangwal Student | 116 | Simran Jain Student |
77 | Pawani Mathur Alumnus | 97 | Ekta Tomar Student | 117 | Pratikshya Priyadarshini |
78 | Sanchita Bhat Student | 98 | Siddharth Gupta Alumnus | 118 | Anuj Manoj Bhave Student |
79 | Diksha Brahma Student | 99 | Shreyashi Ray Research Fellow (Law) | 119 | Preetam bharti Student |
80 | Priya Tyagi Student | 100 | Arshu John Alumnus | 120 | Alind Gupta Student |
S. No. | Name | S. No. | Name | S. No. | Name |
121 | Aarushi Mahajan Alumnus | 141 | Maulshree Pathak Alumnus | 161 | Priyanka Choudhary Research Fellow (Law) |
122 | Anuna Tiwari Student | 142 | Hardeep Singh Alumnus | 162 | Sucheta Roy Alumnus |
123 | Shrinkhala Jaiswal Research Fellow | 143 | Chinmayi Shrivastava Student | 163 | Vaibhav Aggarwal Alumnus |
124 | Lakshana Ramakrishnan | 144 | Jeetu Tolani Student | 164 | Bharti Singh Student |
125 | Meghadarshini M S Student | 145 | Anshika Kesarwani Student | 165 | Devashish Godbole Alumnus |
126 | Nishtha Sinha Alumnus | 146 | Wangdi Tshering Bhutia Alumnus | 166 | Riddhi Jad Alumnus |
127 | Saumya Bhatt Alumnus | 147 | Anukriti Kudeshia Student | 167 | Nishant Badhran Student |
128 | Neeraj Nainani Student | 148 | Ishita Sharma Alumnus | 168 | Ninni Susan Thomas Research Fellow |
129 | Arpit Agarwal Student | 149 | Aditya Anand Student | 169 | Anshu Consultant Advocate |
130 | Jagata Swaminathan Alumnus | 150 | Abhinav Hansaraman Student | 170 | Medha Deo Programme Director |
131 | Kartikey Singh Student | 151 | Kashish Singhal Student | 171 | Amartya Kanjilal Research Associate |
132 | Gale Andrew Alumnus | 152 | Vandana Meena Student | 172 | Shuchita Goel Student |
133 | Anshul Gondale Student | 153 | Rum Shoute Student | 173 | Shweta Wankhede Associate |
134 | Shambhavi Singh Student | 154 | Divyansh Joshi Student | 174 | Mini Saxena Alumnus |
135 | Sarvjeet Singh Alumnus | 155 | Geetansh Agarwal Student | 175 | Shubham Gupta Alumnus |
136 | Neha Jha Student | 156 | Keerthana Medarametla Alumnus | 176 | Peter John Research Associate (2016- 18) |
137 | Akshat Agarwal Alumnus | 157 | Maloth Chandrashekhar Kumar Student | 177 | Devina Sikdar Research Associate |
138 | Astha Upadhyaya Student | 158 | Shreya Rastogi Alumnus & Research Associate | 178 | Raunaq Chandrashekar Alumnus |
139 | Nikhil Anand Student | 159 | Kuhuk Jain Alumnus | 179 | Devesh Saboo Alumnus |
140 | Karishma Padia Alumnus | 160 | Shweta Kabra Alumnus | 180 | Vaibhavi Shaunak Alumnus |
S. No. | Name | S. No. | Name | S. No. | Name |
181 | Karan Vijay Student Student | 201 | Vaibhav Dutt Alumnus | 221 | Ayushi Agrawal Student |
182 | Damini Davinder Singh Alumnus | 202 | Himanshu Mishra Student | 222 | Prarthna sharma Student |
183 | Priya Student | 203 | Abhimanyu Yadav Student | 223 | Bhavya Phutela Student |
184 | Anurag Goswami Alumnus | 204 | R S Lakshman Alumnus | 224 | Sonal Sarda Alumnus |
185 | Meghna Bhaskar Student | 205 | Abhinav Srivastava Alumnus | 225 | Ravi Arora Alumnus |
186 | Neetika Vishwanath Research Associate | 206 | Raashi Pathak Student | 226 | Shubhi Khare Student |
187 | Saachi Agrawal Student | 207 | Shweta Venkatesan Student | 227 | Abhishek Mittal Student |
188 | Sanya Kumar Alumnus | 208 | Dr. Prem Chand Assistant Professor | 228 | Vikramaditya Alumnus |
189 | Prakhar Agarwal Student | 209 | Anshul Student | 229 | Divyanshu Chaudhary Student |
190 | Kumar Ritwik Student | 210 | Rahul Kawat Alumnus | 230 | Siddhant Sachdeva Student |
191 | Vaibhav Student | 211 | Monalisa Alumnus | 231 | Abhishek Sharma Student |
192 | Anuj Sharma Alumnus | 212 | Manaswini Singh Student | 232 | Rahul Kumar Student |
193 | Koirobi Biswas Student | 213 | Ipsita Pallavi Student | 233 | Siddhant Raj Student |
194 | Shivalik Chandan Student | 214 | Ayushi Pathak Student | 234 | Aradhana C.V. Alumna Alumnus |
195 | Rohan Andrew Naik Student | 215 | Akhil Bhardwaj Alumnus | 235 | Saral Minocha Alumnus |
196 | Diksha Mendiratta Student | 216 | Anupama Singh Student | 236 | Maitreyi Misra Research Associate |
197 | Chinmay Kanojia Alumnus | 217 | Prachi Tatiwal Student | 237 | Yashika Jain Alumnus |
198 | Pritika Malhotra Alumnus | 218 | Atharva Kotwal Student | 238 | Bhavna Jha Alumnus |
199 | Anugya Chauhan Student | 219 | Archita Srivastava Student | 239 | Aaditya Arora Student |
200 | Tijil Thakur Student | 220 | Aadya Antya Student | 240 | Sonal Bharti Student |
S. No. | Name | S. No. | Name | S. No. | Name |
241 | Aaditya Gambhir Student | 261 | Asmita Verma Student | 281 | Gauri Soni Student |
242 | Devanshi Saxena Alumnus | 262 | Ravishankar M Alumnus | 282 | Aditya Mittal Student |
243 | Vivek Singh Alumnus | 263 | Anuradha Godrey Alumnus | 283 | Shivani Singh Student |
244 | Shubhi Khare Student | 264 | Nimit Rajesh Goyal Student | 284 | Tania Singla Alumnus |
245 | Monika Negi Assistant Professor | 265 | Shruti Srivastava Student | 285 | RBV Pratap Singh Student |
246 | Niranjan Student | 266 | Priyendra Vikram Singh Student | 286 | Sumon Sourabh Brahma Alumnus |
247 | Tanvi Agrawal Alumnus | 267 | Surbhi Student | 287 | Surbhi Karwa Student |
248 | Prashant Tahlani Alumnus | 268 | Rahil Chatterjee Research Fellow | 288 | Amita Punj Associate Professor |
249 | Aishwarya Kane Alumnus | 269 | John Sebastian Alumnus | 289 | Manas Student |
250 | Shrutanjaya Bharadwaj Alumnus | 270 | Tanaya Rajwade Student | 290 | Harsh Arya Student |
251 | Tishta Tandon Student | 271 | Sakshi Tikmany Student | 291 | Deepika Parya Student |
252 | Devashish Chauhan Alumnus | 272 | Abhishek Student Student | 292 | Parul Sharma Alumnus |
253 | Priyanka Goel Alumnus | 273 | Kriti Shrivastava Student | 293 | Shambhavi Singh Alumnus |
254 | Akhil Mallipeddi Alumnus | 274 | Aditi Sharma Student | 294 | AmardeepSinghSandhu Student |
255 | Akshay BD Alumnus | 275 | Isha Goel Student | 295 | Dedipyaman Shukla Student |
256 | Sarvatrajit Singh Alumnus | 276 | Shrey Patnaik Alumnus | 296 | Pundrikaksh Student |
257 | Akansha Seth Alumnus | 277 | Suneet Anand Student | 297 | Dona John Project 39A |
258 | Tarun Sundaram Student | 278 | Anmol Mittal Student | 298 | Palak Jawa Student |
259 | Nikhil Prasad Student | 279 | Bharat Student | 299 | Toshit Shandilya Alumnus |
260 | Saloni Jain Alumnus | 280 | Prakhar Ganguly Alumnus | 300 | Aviral Singhal Student |
300 | Aviral Singhal Student |
301 | Tanishka Goswami Student |
302 | Ambar Modi Student |
303 | Sucheto Chophy Student |
304 | Aasavri Rai Student |
305 | Mansi Relhan Student |
306 | Vandana Venkatesh Alumnus |
307 | Arshdeep Student |
308 | Vandana Venkatesh Alumnus |
309 | Nayantara Pande Alumnus |
310 | Mehak Bajpai Teaching Assistant |
311 | Rishika Sahgal Alumnus |
312 | Jagrit Vyas Student |