The 30-year-old lawyer, who has an experience of seven years, claims to have been into environmental activism through an NGO but has never been associated with any political party.
Nikita, who graduated from ILS Law College in Pune, handled only civil cases. Speaking to India Today, senior advocate Girish Godbole, under whose chamber Nikita last worked, said the development came as a surprise. Nikita worked as my junior for about 3 years. She was good at her work. But, we never imagined that she would face a criminal case someday, Godbole said.
While Delhi Police has claimed that Nikita had links with a political party, AAP’s national spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon denied knowing the advocate. In Mumbai, we have never heard of this name. There is no one in our party by this name, not even in our legal team, she said. AAP leader Raghav Chaddha too denied Nikita being a member of the party.
Controversial Bombay HC judge now faces ignominy of extended probation, writes Olav Albuquerque
A judge, who was a deputy director of the state judicial academy, could not envisage the cascading effect her acquittals could have on those charged under POCSO. A judge has to interpret the statute in such a way to ensure that no absurd result follows from a strict and narrow interpretation.
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Judges infuse new meaning into the law made by the legislature, to make it effective, or sometimes â as in the case of two judgments rendered by a single judge of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court â ineffective. The problem here is an accused is presumed guilty until he proves himself innocent under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012. But the more stringent the punishment, the weightier the evidence needed to convict a pervert.