A junior lawyer has been served notice by the J&K High Court Bar Association, Jammu for posting comments which according to them reflected his ‘anti-national’ mindset on the social media.
The comment was posted by the lawyer Altaf Hussain Janjua, a registered member of the Bar Association (Membership no 3063/15, 27-11-2015) immediately after India was defeated by Pakistan in the Champions Trophy match in london on Sunday.
Altaf had posted a comment along with final score tally of both the teams, “338/4 and 158/10 ...Its Real Surgical Strike” on June 18 at 9.28 p.m.
According to Altaf Hussain, “On June 20, I received a call from the office boy of Bar Association, Jammu to collect a copy of the notice served to me by the General Secretary of the J&K High Court Bar Association, Jammu Prem Nath Sadotra.”
Hussain claimed, “Even before I was handed over the hard copy of the notice, I was flooded with calls from several colleagues as the same notice was circulated on various whats app groups of Jammu based lawyers and other groups.”
Through the notice Altaf Hussain was advised by the General Secretary of the Bar Association Jammu to remove the post failing which he would be expelled from the primary membership of the Bar.
The notice read as, “After the conclusion of India Vs Pakistan cricket Match on June 18, you have posted a post on Facebook which reflected your anti-national mindset. The meaning of your post is detrimental to the interest of J&K High Court Bar Association, Jammu. The members of the association have shown resentment against your post which is against the spirit of the Constitution and basic fabric of the J&K High Court Bar Association, Jammu.”
Ever since this episode has come to light, Altaf Hussain is feeling insecure.
Speaking to The Pioneer he said “Some of the lawyers started abusing me and there were others who wrote hate messages targeting my religion.”
He said, “It is very unfortunate that I have been selectively targeted by the senior lawyers of the Bar Association for posting a comment on the Facebook page.”
He said “Before notice was served to me, I had already removed the post from my Facebook page. There was no need to penalise me. Still I am targetted and accused of supporting Pakistan cricket team.”
Several senior lawyers told The Pioneer, “It is a very serious development.”
“Bar Association Jammu should have exercised some restraint before issuing such a notice that too when the junior lawyer had already deleted his post fearing backlash after he started receiving hate messages,” a prominent lawyer told The Pioneer.
A section of lawyers standing in support of Altaf Hussain are planning to take up the matter so that the notice served to him is recalled soon by the Bar Association, Jammu.