• The Supreme Court of India has held that the central government cannot brand an organisation as political and deprive it of its right to receive foreign funds for using legitimate forms of dissent to aid a public cause.
• The Court observed that an organisation which supports the cause of a group of citizens agitating for their rights without a political goal or objective cannot be penalised by being declared as an organisation of a political nature.
• However, foreign funding could be stopped if an organisation took recourse to these forms of protest to score a political goal.

• The Karnataka High Court has observed that it is unethical and illegal for lawyers to pass resolutions against representing accused in court.

Constitutional Provisions for the the Rights of an Accused

• Article 22(1): It gives the fundamental right to every person not to be denied the right to be defended by a legal practitioner of his or her choice.
• Article 14: It provides for equality before the law and equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.
• Article 39A: It is part of the Directive Principles of State Policy. It states that equal opportunity to secure justice must not be denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities, and provides for free legal aid.