Observing many innocent people victimised in the name of terror probes, Justice Rajinder Sachar called for the need to abolish rough laws that facilitate detention of a person without any charges against them. “Terrorism is there, I admit, but in the name of terror probe, many innocent people are taken into custody without registering a charge and are being detained for long period,” the former High Court Chief Justice said on October 1 while speaking at a one-day convention held at Jamia Millia Islamia University. “Though the stringent POTA was withdrawn, the last amendment to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2004 incorporated all its provisions and provided for detention of a person up to 180 days without charges. This must be done away with,” he said.
Civil Rights activists like Kavita Srivastava, and Mukul Sinha, the activist-cum lawyer in the Ishrat Jahan case, underlined the need for social workers to come on a common platform. Kavita Srivastava said activists must repose their faith in courts and rely on them in fighting injustices in the society. “The Gujarat High court has denied bail to the influential accused in the Ishrat Jahan case which shows that the courts can be approached in the fight against injustice,” she added.