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| Moninder Singh to undergo narco tes |
| Moninder Singh, one of the main accused in the Noida serial killings, will undergo narco test
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| INDIA
, 9-January-2007
1:48:49 AM |
| But a debate now rages over the defence of the two accused when the case comes to the trial stage.
The Noida bar association has said no lawyer will defend Moninder Singh but the Punjab bar association has questioned that decision.
But does this mean that he does not deserve the right to a defence?
Despite the emotional public outrage against Moninder, the lawyers in his hometown Chandigarh on Monday warned against a media trial, declaring him guilty before his case reaches the courts.
Every accused has the right to get himself defended by a competent lawyer and the decision of the bar to not defend him at all is against the legal ethics.
"In law, a man is presumed to be innocent till he is proven guilty so in the case of Pandher also he should get a lawyer," said K Lakhanpal, senior criminal lawyer.
Until proven guilty
It is a debate that has come to stay as the Indian media becomes more vigilant and interventionist. Ram Jethmalani's defence of Manu Sharma, Jessica Lall's murderer, had provoked similar anger and debate.
Lawyers however, say their first duty must be towards their client.
"It is wrong to not give any criminal a defence. It is also not right the way the media has played it up. Let the forensic and other scientific inputs come, until then it is not right to call him guilty," said R K Anand, Senior Lawyer, SC.
So far these discussions have remained academic as no lawyer has agreed to take on Moninder's case. This includes his classmate from Bishop Cotton who believes Moninder is innocent.
The Noida Bar Association has already refused the services of any of its lawyers, leaving the debate split wide open on whether lawyers owe their first loyalty to the client or to the principles of the Constitution.
Our Constitution states that every individual is entitled to a lawyer. But with everything that has been said on the Nithari case, some seem to have already made a judgement.
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