15 October 2014
The Executive Committee of the Bar Association of India which met on October 14, 2014 here at New Delhi has noted with grave concern the increasing tendency in Malaysia to invoke provisions of the draconian Sedition Act in recent months, including against the members of the legal fraternity in the course of discharge of their professional responsibilities or rendering legal opinions or providing interpretation or critique of provisions of law or the constitution.
Invocation of provisions of Sedition Act, which was widely understood to be on its way to repeal, undermines freedom of speech and democracy, the core values and components of the Rule of Law that a body of legal professionals is duty bound to protect. Moreover, with the sword of Sedition Act hanging on the members of legal fraternity itself, it strikes at the very root of the profession which is required to fearlessly act as a vanguard for protecting the fundamental freedoms and human rights.
The Bar Association of India appreciates and applauds the steps taken by the Malaysian Bar that serve to protect and promote the Rule of Law by seeking to create public opinion through peaceful means against a draconian law prone to misuse by authorities.
The Association joins LAWASIA and other such international and national bodies of the legal profession in various countries in urging the authorities in Malaysia to provide adequate, effective and proactive security to the peaceful protest march against the Sedition Law by the members of the Malaysian Bar on October 16, 2014 to protect them from harm or attack from any fundamental elements and supports the independent observers sent by LAWASIA and other bodies to oversee the conduct of a peaceful protest march.
RKP Shankardass
President
The Bar Association of India