Menaka’s dad has written an article in Deccan Herald condemning the right-wing trolling of her. He has made made the elementary point that lawyers have a constitutional duty to represent their client, and clients have a constitutional right to have legal counsel, however unpleasant the task may be for the lawyer. Thus Menaka is actually furthering the cause of fundamental rights and justice and not harming it. He has said that this is a long tradition in their illustrious family of lawyers.

So we should all close the matter here. Let’s respect Menaka for not only working on popular human rights causes, but also unpopular causes, both equally in the interests of justice and as a servant of the court.

If as a law student you think a human rights lawyer should only work on popular causes, then that lawyer will be failing in his/her duty and YOU will be failing in your duty as a law student!

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/amp/opinion/columnists/mohan-guruswamy-without-fair-defence-right-to-fair-trial-is-meaningless-1819145

This video will give you an idea of the mood in Bengal right now (and probably the rest of the country too). A man in a bus was defending the WB govt saying that they investigated in time, condemned the incident etc --- similar to the arguments they were making in court. A group of ladies on the bus got so angry that they caught him by the collar, heckled him up and threw him out of the bus.

Sibal and Menaka are entitled to represent the TMC govt and defend their actions. But this is obviously not likely to win them public adulation.

https://x.com/abhijitmajumder/status/1827221830970544415

Self-proclaimed liberals from South Mumbai and Delhi, whitewashing the TMC govt on social media, are actually doing great harm to the liberal cause. Can you people even spot West Bengal on a map??? In the entire state ALL liberal people are against the TMC and protesting on the streets. They don't need you to speak for them and air your dumb opinions online in the name of secularism and liberalism. Yes, the BJP is also opposing Mamata, but so what? The BJP also opposes ISIS. Does that mean you will support ISIS???

Thank you for raising this point, which is very pertinent. Singhvi has always been the first choice counsel for WB, but that was also because the TMC had backed his nomination for a Rajya Sabha seat from WB. Now Singhvi is going to enter the RS from Telangana, with full Congress backing. I don't think he is obliged to defend WB and whitewash the TMC's misdeeds any more. Yes, he charged WB handsomely and will lose a lucrative client, but then he is so much in demand that he will easily get other clients to fill that hole. Not a huge loss for him. Also, representing WB in this case is risking damage to your goodwill among the public . In the eyes of the public, it's the same as representing the rapist, because of the perceived cover up and risk of a big scam emanating. I don't think Sibal cares about being popular among the public and Gen Z kids, but Singhvi perhaps does. Another KEY POINT to note is that Sibal has officially left the Congress, whereas Singhvi is still with them. I don't think Rahul Gandhi would be very pleased if a Congress lawyer represented WB and defended the regime. It would give the BJP yet another ground to attack the Congress. Adhir Chowdhury, who had got WB Congress workers to heckle Singhvi, would have gone ballistic.

Coming to Gopal, he may have also opted out because of the risk of losing goodwill, but the fiasco over Mahua and the dog may have also have made him wary of representing the state. Imagine the amount of trolling the poor guy would have had to face if he appeared in this case?

As for Menaka, I think her reputation among the public has suffered irreparably because, unlike Sibal, she had a halo around her as a human rights defender. That's all gone now. Was she that desperate for clients that she had to accept this case? Look at Karuna Nundy is contrast. She too is a TIME 100 awardee, a Senior Advocate and human rights activist. She is representing the doctors.

She appeared again today but again just stood beside Sibal. If I was advising the West Bengal government I would tell them to simply hire one Senior Advocate in Sibal and save Menaka’s fee, because I don’t see the value in having her. If they need a second person to just stand beside Sibal for visibility, why not hire a good non-senior counsel?

There is a little more to this that I am privy to. The affidavit that the WB Police had to prepare was meant to cover up some truths about the main incident and the mob attack. Both Abhishek Singhvi and Gopal Sankaranarayanan who were first choices for the State refused to make submissions based on that. So they moved on to Sibal and Menaka.

Below tweets are from a BTS/Blackpink stan account that has cancelled Menaka (almost certainly a law student). It symbolises the mood among Gen Z kids towards Menaka right now. But these kids are quite ignorant and are being unfair to Menaka. Yes, there have been cases where lawyers have turned down clients. One famous example is Soli Sorabjee, who turned down Union Carbide. But it's purely a subjective moral choice, not an ethical one. You can represent evil people and still be an ethical lawyer (e.g. it was Fali Nariman who eventually represented Union Carbide). So we need to prioritise logic over snowflakery and give these Kpop kids a reality check.

https://x.com/tozakisana41224

out of all people I expected better from you maam....maam I used to idolize you, dreamed to be like you ...hero worship can be damaging..My eyes have been cleared.. I will choose better heros from now.. heart broken.

Full ist of counsels here: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GVhjMztXEAAJmy4.jpg

So we have 5 lawyers for the Union of India and 21 lawyers for the Sate of West Bengal. Why so many???

Yawn🥱 just some haters jealous of NLSIU and of Menaka's success. The same lot criticises Sudhir, GShanks and Lawrence for the same reason. Learn to appreciate other's achievements instead of being jealous!

And FYI nothing wrong in representing the WB govt. The ruling party is a member of the liberal INDIA Alliance, which is the last defence for secular, liberal values in the face of the fascist assault by the BJP. Do you want her to represent the Modi govt instead?

The state government does not have any choice to say that they won't be co-operating with every order as they are obliged to as case sub-judice before SC. Primarily, it is the state's fault in each and every aspect including but not limited to investigation, law and order( goons entering the hospital and vandalizing the hospital and destroying the scene of the crime), intimidating protestors by stifling their voice for deleting tweets and post through issue of Notice under Section 168 of the BNSS (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita) 2023. Plz develop a spine

Relevant and genuine question. Were she and Arundhati Katju the lead counsels making the key arguments in the 377 case, or were they just saying yes to what the lead counsel was saying, as had happened yesterday? If the latter is true, then both the Time magazine honour and the Jefferson Medal should have been awarded to the lead counsel (Anand Grover, Shyam Divan, Saurabh Kirpal — whoever it was, I don’t know). If the idea was to award it to them purely because they are openly out of the closet, then it’s a different matter (although Saurabh Kirpal and the petitioner, Navtej Johar, are also openly out).

In the end, I do think it was a team effort involving many senior and junior counsels, plus NGOs. No one person should claim credit.

Just go to X or FB and type her name under recent posts. You will find some of these comments (those with public settings). A bunch are from Gen Z kids who see her as a role model and have been left disappointed. These kids are idealistic, that’s why. Once they grow up they will learn the ways of the world and the legal profession!

From now on, I will take Rhodes, the TIME 100 list and other such accolades with a pinch of salt. Seems to be a closed, mutual appreciation club run by liberal elites. I think the person who really deserves our respect is Senior Advocate Bikash Bhattacharya. He is a true leftist who represents victims of human rights violations pro bono, not a fake Lutyens leftist. He is a Rajya Sabha MP and could have lobbied to increase his national profile in Delhi, but he prefers to work with the poor in Bengal.

Mr sibal just represented the government and told that they will cooperate and will follow courts order whatever the court orders do you know that when our our wrestlers were dragged by the police because they were protesting to get the FIR registered against the MP of pupua ( brijbhushan singh ) do you know which lawyer represented our wrestlers free of cost and got the FIR registered that lawyer was Mr. Kapil sibal

Mod, please don't mark it contested. What the comment says is true. Kapil and Menaka did not state the whole truth. Please see this video interviewing Abhaya's parents, which has English subtitles. The mother says CLEARLY that:

- they were told it was a suicide

- the hospital did not cooperate with them

- they were initially not shown the body

- the police are not doing their job properly

- the whole plan was to hurriedly do a post mortem and cremate the body asap

- they suspect a coverup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNogWjV7Bmg

The whole hearing saw Sibal obfuscating facts, with Menaka saying "yes, yes" after everything he said and nodding her head furiously. We can see and hear everything, it's all out there.

LI readers defending Mamata: don't you dare downvote me and run away like a coward. Counter me with facts!

Oh please, the comments are not sexist! The point being made is that a person who is a human rights lawyer and TIME 100 honoree for that reason has disappointed a lot of her admirers by representing the victim and not the state. The state in this case is accused of covering up the rape. The victim's parents are on record saying that they were told that it was a suicide and the cremation was hurriedly done. The parents have criticised the hospital principal and the CM. Also, several state ministers and TMC politicians have made misogynistic comments after the incident (e.g. Udayan Guha, Kalyan Badopadhyay) and the Principal Advisor to the CM (Alapan Bandopadhyay) has issued guidelines saying that women should not be given work at night. Why? Shouldn't the response be to ensure security rather than ask women not to work at night?

The other thing to note is that Menaka is merely nodding and saying yes to what Kapil Sibal is saying. The video is out there. She barely even said a sentence on her own. Presumably, it wasn't like this during the 377 hearing, which made her a TIME 100 honoree? So, instead of saying yes to everything Kapil Sibal said and blindly defending the state, why couldn't she condemn the coverup and instead say that the state should be held accountable? In other words, that she is representing the state only to ensure accountability and punish those responsible for the cover up, rather than deny allegations? Of course, if Menaka wishes to shed the tag of a human rights lawyer and be like Kapil Sibal and AM Singhvi, and represent anyone and everyone (rather than Vrinda Grover or Flavia Agnes, who fight for causes) then she should say so. Practice what you preach!