Advocate K N Jagadish and others from Bengaluru appeared for student B Nalini in the sedition case. She is also backed by 129 more advocates, including a few from Mysuru led by Manjula Manasa, former chairperson of Karnataka State Women’s Commission.
Earlier, the Mysuru Bar Association had decided that none of its members will appear for Nalini. The Second Additional District and Sessions Court will take up the hearing of the case, filed under IPC Section 124A against Nalini, on January 24. The case was taken up for hearing at 10 am on Monday, but was adjourned for 3 pm. The other lawyers who appeared for Nalini are Hariram, Mahesh Das, Manoranjan and Murthy from Bengaluru and Hamid Pasha from Davangere.
Nalini, a student of MDes in photography design at the National Institute of Design in Gandhinagar, had allegedly displayed a ‘Free Kashmir’ placard, during a protest on January 8, opposing the attack on JNU students and teachers at Manasagangotri, the University of Mysore (UoM) campus in Mysuru.
On January 16, a section of advocates and activists urged the Mysuru Bar Association to review its decision. Thus, a meeting of the association was held on Monday morning.
“Most of the members, were against representing Nalini. This is a sedition case, which is related to national integrity and sovereignty. The members feel that it is not proper to defend such cases. Thus, it was decided to suspend the member, if he or she appears for Nalini,” said B Shivappa, secretary of the association.