Manohar Lal Sharma

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Manohar Lal Sharma is an Indian lawyer known for filing a number of frivolous public interest litigations.

Contents

Career

Starting with a public interest litigation in 1991 against provisions of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, Sharma has litigated a number of issues in Indian courts that have attracted media attention. [1]

He had filed a petition before the Supreme Court about the Indian coal allocation scam. [2] In 2007, as an independent advocate, he filed a public interest litigation petition in the Supreme Court in the case of Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana. [3] He also defended the accused in the 2012 Delhi gang rape case, [4] often making outrageous remarks against the victims, for which he remains unpopular. [5] The Delhi gang rape case shot him into media limelight, with every Indian and international media keeping him in public view for the next few years. This taste of publicity perhaps makes him file public interest litigations in the top court on every burning issue of the time, despite repeated penalities imposed on him by the supreme court for filing frivolous litigations, which run into lakhs of rupees. [6]

Controversies

Blaming the Nirbhaya Case victims for using public transport and lack of character

In defence of the accused in the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case, Sharma blamed the victim for using public transportation. He said, "Until today I have not seen a single incident or example of rape with a respected lady. Even an underworld don would not like to touch a girl with respect." [1] [7] [8]

Sharma claimed the "Nirbhaya gang rape was planned by her boyfriend to gain political mileage" [9]

Publicity on burning issues in court

Sharma is known among lawyers for being the first to approach the court on contentious issues. His petitions are always poorly drafted and lack substance or legal backing, but by virtue of being the first to file a petition in court, he makes his way to daily headlines and fame. [10]

Contempt notice over false averments

On 18 November 2022, Supreme Court of India issued contempt notice to Sharma for allegedly attributing motives to Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Ravi Malimath in their petition challenging the High Court verdict. [11] [12]

Abrogation of Article 370

He was first to challenge the government's decision to abrogate Article 370 of Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court refused to name the case after him, despite being the first petitioner. [6]

Related Research Articles

The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). It refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and demonstrates the availability of justice to socially-disadvantaged parties and was introduced by Justice P. N. Bhagwati and Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer. It is a relaxation on the traditional rule of locus standi. Before 1980s the judiciary and the Supreme Court of India entertained litigation only from parties affected directly or indirectly by the defendant. It heard and decided cases only under its original and appellate jurisdictions. However, the Supreme Court began permitting cases on the grounds of public interest litigation, which means that even people who are not directly involved in the case may bring matters of public interest to the court. It is the court's privilege to entertain the application for the PIL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in India</span> Death penalty in India, its states and union territories

Capital punishment in India is a legal penalty for some crimes under the country's main substantive penal legislation, the Indian Penal Code, as well as other laws. Executions are carried out by hanging as the primary method of execution as given under Section 354(5) of the Criminal Code of Procedure, 1973 is "Hanging by the neck until dead", and is imposed only in the 'rarest of cases'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human Rights Law Network</span>

The Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) is an Indian non-profit organisation founded in 1989 to protect the fundamental human rights and civil liberties of the most marginalised and vulnerable members of society. Working on the intersection of law, advocacy, policy, and education, HRLN is organised as a collective of lawyers and social activists dedicated to providing legal assistance to vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals, advocating for the implementation of structures to safeguard human rights and fight systemic oppression, and educating the public on their rights and remedies. HRLN provides pro bono legal services to marginalised groups, conducts investigations into human rights violations, and undertakes high-stakes impact litigation in service of the public interest. The organisation operates across the spectrum of public interest law, focusing specifically on children’s rights, rights of disabled persons, rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, prisoners' rights, refugee rights, rights of indigenous people, workers' rights, rights of minorities, and the protection of victims of sexual violence or trafficking.

The Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) is an Indian non-governmental organisation that conducts litigation on matters of public interest. The CPIL was established by late Justice V. M. Tarkunde, a former judge of the Supreme Court of India.

Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. According to the 2021 annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 31,677 rape cases were registered across the country, or an average of 86 cases daily, a rise from 2020 with 28,046 cases, while in 2019, 32,033 cases were registered. Of the total 31,677 rape cases, 28,147(nearly 89%) of the rapes were committed by persons known to the victim. The share of victims who were minors or below 18 – the legal age of consent – stood at 10%.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Delhi gang rape and murder</span> Gang rape, torture, murder and assault incident in India

The 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, commonly known as the Nirbhaya case, involved a rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood in South Delhi. The incident took place when Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, was beaten, gang-raped, and tortured in a private bus in which she was travelling with her male friend, Avnindra Pratap Pandey. There were six others in the bus, including the driver, all of whom raped the woman and beat her friend. She was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi for treatment and transferred to Singapore eleven days after the assault, where she succumbed to her injuries 2 days later. The incident generated widespread national and international coverage and was widely condemned, both in India and abroad. Subsequently, public protests against the state and central governments for failing to provide adequate security for women took place in New Delhi, where thousands of protesters clashed with security forces. Similar protests took place in major cities throughout the country. Since Indian law does not allow the press to publish a rape victim's name, the victim was widely known as Nirbhaya, meaning "fearless", and her struggle and death became a symbol of women's resistance to rape around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sidharth Luthra</span> Senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India

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Ajay Agarwal is a lawyer in the Supreme Court of India and a politician. He is the candidate representing the Bharatiya Janata Party from Rae Bareli in the 2014 Indian general election. During his tenure on the Supreme Court, he filed public interest litigations in several cases including the Bofors scandal, the Taj corridor case, and the fake stamp paper scam run by Abdul Karim Telgi.

India's Daughter is a documentary film directed by Leslee Udwin and is part of the BBC's ongoing Storyville series. The film is based on the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder of 23-year-old "Nirbhaya", who was a physiotherapy student. The documentary explores the events of the night of 16 December 2012, the protests which were sparked both nationally and internationally as a result of the attack, and the lives of the men before they committed the attack. The film is told through the use of reconstructed footage and interviews with those involved in the case, including the defence lawyers, psychiatrists, and one of the rapists.

Daughters of Mother India is a 2014 documentary film directed and produced by Vibha Bakshi on the aftermath of the brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student Nirbhaya in Delhi on December 16, 2012. For the first time in the history of the Delhi Police, Vibha was able to gain access to the Delhi Police control and command room right after Nirbhaya's death.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathua rape case</span> 2018 crime in Jammu and Kashmir, India

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Unnao rape case</span> Gang rape involving a politician in Unnao

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References

  1. 1 2 Sharma, Nalini (23 July 2021). "A peek into ML Sharma's world of publicity interest litigation". India Today.
  2. Ojha, Srishti (12 May 2022). "Coal Block Allocation Scam: Supreme Court Seeks Centre's Affidavit On Stages Of Investigation In Different Cases". LiveLaw.in.
  3. "SC to hear PIL on Pratibha tomorrow". PTI. 2 July 2007.
  4. "Story of a 'serial petitioner': M.L. Sharma's many pleas and controversies". The Week. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  5. "A peek into ML Sharma's world of publicity interest litigation". India Today. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  6. 1 2 "A peek into ML Sharma's world of publicity interest litigation". India Today. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  7. "Nirbhaya Convicts Lawyer AP Singh Does An ML Sharma, Now Questions Victim's Character". IndiaTimes. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  8. "These Disgusting Remarks By Nirbhaya's Rapists' Defense Attorney Will Make Every Indian's Blood Boil". ScoopWhoop. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  9. "'Nirbhaya Gang Rape was planned by her boyfriend to gain political mileage', says defence lawyer ML Sharma". India.com. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  10. "A peek into ML Sharma's world of publicity interest litigation". India Today. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  11. Service, Tribune News. "Contempt notices to 2 lawyers over false averments". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  12. Jiji, Sara Susan. "Bar Council of Kerala issues suo motu show cause notice to advocate BA Aloor for professional misconduct". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 26 November 2022.