Indira Jaising calls #NGOClampdown 'intimidating tactic' by govt

Senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Indira Jaising’s NGO, Lawyers Collective (LC) was served a notice suspending its FCRA registration for six months on Monday by the Home Minstry. It has barred the association from receiving any foreign funds.

Evidently upset by the move, Jaising attacked the government in a televised interview with NDTV. She termed it an “intimidating tactic by the government” to clamp down on her NGO. She further said that LC has not yet received a formal notice from the Centre. It has only been released to the press. She also pointed out that the first time the notice was mentioned in the press was the day Amit Shah had to appear in court in the Sohrabuddin murder case.

Jaising has actively protested against the decision of the court discharging Shah in the case.

Alongside her husband Anand Grover (who is also a lawyer), she has represented several people in cases against the government in the past. The recent action against LC can be seen “as an act of vindictiveness” and “a blatant attempt to victimise” the organisation, according to Jaising.

Three things that might have worked against Jaising and irked the government are: her public support for activist Teesta Setalvad, her eagerness to help people fighting against government officials and her instinct to protest against injustice.

In an article for Outlook , she wrote “support for Teesta is support for access to justice for victims of a pogrom". She accused the government of conspiring against Teesta in a plan to deter her from assisting victims of the Gujarat 2002 riots. She further referred to the failure of the CBI to appeal against the discharge of Amit Shah in three murder cases.

Teesta too has been accused of violating the FCRA by the government and is being represented by Jaising in court.

The 2002 Gujarat riots have always been a sensitive issue and Jaising’s support for the victims and Teesta made her extremely unpopular in some circles.

This is however, not the only case when Jaising has acted against the government. She represented Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai, who was stopped at the Delhi airport from going to London and speaking about the violation of forest rights of tribals in the Mahan coal block area of Madhya Pradesh.

Interestingly, months after Jaising and Pillai won the case, Greenpeace’s India branch was banned from receiving foreign donations. This move is quite similar to the recent clamp down on LC. The government said that Greenpeace violated rules governing foreign funding, according to The Guardian . Jaising too, has been accused of violating FCRA regulations.

Jaising was also part of the petition urging stay against Yakub Memon’s hanging in 2015. She advocated against the execution along with Grover.

How she responds to this latest situation remains to be seen.