Video Editor: Deepthi Ramdas
Producer: Smitha TK
It has been over six months since the coronavirus pandemic has struck the country and people are still grappling with restrictions that have come with the virus. Since the lockdown, many are facing issues regarding house rent, domestic abuse, cyberbullying, job losses, and travel restrictions.
A group of law students and advocates have come together to create a platform, Lawyers Go Probono, to provide free legal advice to people.
The virtual platform was started as an initiative by 22-year-old Radhey Soundarya, a student of Gujarat National Law University.
“After the happening of certain untoward incidents such as the boys locker room, we did notice a surge of inquiries we were receiving from women,” said Devina Srivastava, a graduate of Symbiosis Law School.
Many advocates practising in various high courts, Supreme Court and legal firms are also part of the group.
Karthik Sundar, an advocate practising at the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court and Ruhani Sanghavi, Associate with Anand & Anand & Khimani, are among the 40 members of the group.
Navigating Legal Recourse
Speaking to The Quint, a woman who has been facing harassment for over two weeks due to a controversial social media post said reaching out to this group has soothed her frayed nerves.
“I was facing a really scary amount of harassment online due to a misunderstanding, and became a hashtag which was very problematic. It was mostly people sharing my image, my name, and asking others to file an FIR against me. They gave me a general rundown of how things work, how the police works... essentially they reassured me a lot. It is a pandemic and I have to prioritise where I have to spend my money,” she said.
“My issue was with the trademark of a company which was earlier rejected. (They advised) on how to respond, how to get our company registered. I got a call from them the very next day and they took another day to reach out to me with a solution on how to apply for it, whatever the consequences if it gets rejected and how to reapply. They took the effort of writing down the entire process and even mailing me,” said Vivek, a consumer from Ranchi.
If you’re seek free legal advice too, you can reach Lawyers Go Probono here.
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