Sr. Adv.

Trideep Pais is a criminal lawyer and human rights defender practising in the Supreme Court
and Delhi High Court.

 In 2006, Pais represented the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in a litigation

challenging a ban on the group before a special tribunal constituted to hear the lawsuit. He
has stressed on the need for no one to be denied his right to be represented.
(https://www.livemint.com/Home-Page/m88tudNfGcugZ28fpBd0mK/Facing-ostracism-
lawyers-defend-right-to-represent-terror-s.html)
 He was a part of the landmark Naz Foundation case decided in 2009 in which Delhi High
Court decriminalized Section 377 of IPC.
 He was one of the amici curiae in Court on Its Own Motion vs State in 2018, in which Delhi
High Court gave directions that a statement under the POCSO Act can be made only to a
police officer or a magistrate, and statements made by the child to an NGO or a private
counsellor are confidential in nature and cannot be used by the authorities.
 He has stressed on the need for accessible legal counsel for those who cannot afford it and
dedicates his time to pro-bono work on social action litigation.
(https://www.thecsf.org/lawyers-for-change/)
 He has written against the concept of membership (and hence, guilt) by association in anti-
terrorism laws such as the UAPA, which allows authorities to prosecute based on flimsy,
inconclusive evidence.
(http://old.tehelka.com/dissent-gets-a-lifeline/)
 He has written on the shrinking space for freedom of expression in the past few years.
(https://thewire.in/rights/the-last-two-years-have-shown-that-free-speech-is-expensive)