- What do I do if the police threatens to arrest me? - What do I do if a police constable starts harassing me on the walls?
- What do I do if I find myself getting blackmailed? - What do I do if I've been harassed or robbed in the course of a gay encounter and want to file a FIR? - What is a FIR anyway? - What's the best way to talk to the police? And does one talk to a constable in a different way to an inspector? - What happens if I find myself in court? - What are the different types of courts? - What's a non-congnisable offence or a non-bailable one? - What happens if I have to deal with any of this? One hopes it may never happen and, in fact, many of us manage to lead our lives as gay men in India without problems from the law. Yet the fear of what the law can do can often cripple the way we lead our lives. No one should ever take the law lightly, but is this fear necessary? Can one have a balanced view of what the law can or can't do to us and use that to lead our lives in greater security? That's what the GB Know-Your-Legal-Rights Meet on Sunday 25/9/2005 seeks to answer. To help us we've got two lawyers from the India Centre for Human Rights & Law, a leading legal rights organisation. which runs the Criminal Justice Initiative which provides free legal service in Mumbai's courts. The two lawyers are good friends of ourse and very gay friendly - they have helped us in the past with the blackmailers at VT Station. What also counts for this session is that they are experienced criminal lawyers, who know all about how the police and courts work at a very basic level in Mumbai. I'm saying this partly to emphasise what this session will NOT be about. So for example, it will really not be about section 377 IPC. This is the biggest single roadblock to the gay movement in India, no question, but its impact in regular life can often be quite low. Our more common problems have to do with more ordinary interactions with the police and that is what this session will focus on. Much of what the lawyers will tell you may not even involve actual legal matters, but more practical tips from their experience in dealing with the police. This session is about criminal law, so it also won't really focus on civil issues like how to make a will that ensures your property goes to your partner. These are important issues and we will have another session at some time just dealing with civil law issues, but this session is meant to deal with criminal ones (and the distinction between the two is something we can touch on). You're free to bring up these questions, of course, but we may just answer them later over email after getting more specific legal opinions. Having said what this session will probably not be about, its now open for anything else that people want to ask pertaining to police and the law. No matter how basic your questions are, these lawyers will tackle them. We will start off with them talking a bit about the structure of the police and matters like that, but they very actively want to the session to be interactive, so please come prepared with lots of questions. For those who won't be able to make it to the meet, you can post your questions to me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and I'll bring them up and try and post answers to you soon. But if you're at all free on Sunday evening, make sure you're at Hotel Imperial Palace, which is next to our regular party place Zouk, in Andheri East. Please note that we're starting this session a little earlier, from 5.00 pm rather than our usual 6.00 pm. Here's how to get to the venue if you haven't been there already: Hotel Imperial Palace, in which Zouk is located, is a 5 minute walk from Andheri station on the East side. Walk up the Andheri Kurla Road (towards the Highway) and turn right into Telli Gulli. It's the 3rd building on your right. But if you're driving and taking the Andheri flyover, from West to East, make a left turn at the signal at the end of the flyover. Or if you're driving on the highway make a left turn at the Andheri flyover road and a right turn at the signal before the flyover. This is Telli Galli. Almost towards the end of this road, close to Andheri Kurla Road (perpendicular to Telli Gulli) is Hotel Imperial Palace on your left. Check with the Hotel front-desk and you will be directed to the room where the meeting is being held. This is a GayBombay (gb) organized event Rights of admission reserved. You have to be above the age of 18 to attend this event. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Help save the life of a child. 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