Justice Lokur, Prashant Bhushan speak out against arrest of students, activists

New Delhi: Former Supreme Court judge Madan B. Lokur and activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who was recently convicted for contempt of court for criticising the judiciary for failing to protect democracy, on Monday spoke out against the misuse of sedition and preventive detention laws to arrest and detain students and activists for indefinite periods.

They were speaking at a virtual discussion on freedom of speech and judiciary. The discussion was organised by the CJAR and Swaraj Abhiyan. Among the other participants were Aruna Roy, N.Ram, Yogendra Yadav and Anjali Bhardwaj. The discussion was organised to mark the occasion of Bhushan depositing `1 as token fine for contempt of court.

Bhushan also sought a review of the order challenging his conviction. Bhushan had in two of his tweets been sharply critical of the Supreme Court for failing through its acts of omission and commission in safeguarding Indian democracy, especially the people’s right to free speech and dissent. A bench led by Justice Mishra had convicted him for contempt, a charge he had denied.