As a poor migrant with no money and no family, Faruk had no means by which to attain a lawyer. It was only when Ajay Verma, IBJ’s India Fellow, came across Faruk’s case did he realize that Faruk had been illegally detained for nearly a decade. With the help of Ajay, Faruk filed a petition for his release before the Delhi High Court. The Court then ordered that Faruk undergo an ossification test in order to determine his current age so that his age at the time of the alleged incident could be calculated.  The report of a medical board revealed Faruk’s current age to be between twenty-five and twenty-eight years old. This indicated that Faruk had indeed been under the age of seventeen at the time of his arrest. The Delhi High Court has thus ordered Faruk’s release.

Despite having order in his favor, Faruk was not set free, but rather he was sent to an illegal migrants’ detention center. On the basis of a news report submitted by Ajay Verma before the Delhi High Court, the court took cognizance and summoned the state authorities and requested the production of Faruk before the Court. The state authorities undertook to arrange his return to Bangladesh within a week with proper documentation. Now Faruk has reached his home and his parents, who thought him to be dead, are overjoyed to be reunited with him. Faruk’s story is an all too common one in India. Fortunately, the work of Ajay exemplifies what can be achieved when basic legal aid is provided to those who need it.

On the fourth day of their visit, Helmand PRT’s delegation attended a meeting hosted by IBJ’s India Fellow, Ajay Verma. The meeting took place in an Advocate’s robbing room and was attended by New Delhi prosecutors and defense lawyers. In the meeting, members discussed the differences between the role of the prosecutor and defender in India and in Afghanistan. In India, members discussed, prosecutors are actively involved in assessing whether cases should go to trial and preside over courtroom litigation. Chief Prosecutor Khoshal added that in Afghanistan, prosecutors are much less involved- a detail that highlighted the difference between adversarial and inquisitorial systems.

The New Delhi defense lawyers then explained to the Helmand group that in India, defense lawyers are independently practicing and represent indigent clients under the Delhi Legal Services Authority. In India, organizations exist at most courts and prisons to ensure that those who require legal assistance receive it-regardless of their financial status. Chief Justice Najibi of Helmand then added that in Afghanistan, a legal aid system exists also. The quality of the aid offered by the Afghan system, however, is extremely poor and inadequate compared to that in India. By the end of the meeting, all participants agreed that they had increased their knowledge of the differences between legal systems, bettered their understanding of roles lawyers play in different countries, and acknowledged the importance of a strong, efficient legal aid structure.

The workshop officially commenced with the inaugural speech of Justice Ajay Rastogi of the Rajasthan High Court. Justice Rastogi’s inspirational speech addressed the fundamental importance of the rule of law in a democratic and constitutional society. He further stressed that trainings like those conducted by IBJ were instrumental in promoting equality and justice in societies that struggle to uphold the fundamental rights of the people. After Justice Rastogi’s speech, the first day of the training began.

The first day of the training comprised of four sessions that broached topics such as prolonged detention, overcrowding in prisons, elements of fair a trial, and client interviews. The latter two sessions were conducted by IBJ’s very own India Fellow, Ajay Verma. In his sessions on the elements of a fair trial and client interviews, Ajay stressed the importance of lawyers’ responsibilities to their clients. Ajay emphasized that among a lawyer’s duties are those of providing trust, confidentiality, competence, honesty, and full discretion. At this point in the session, the trainees participated in an interactive “mock interview” in which they honed their client interview skills and identified commonly made mistakes.

The second day of IBJ and CHRI’s training included workshops on the procedure of arrest, common illegalities, common delays, and securing bail from lower and high courts. During these sessions, speakers addressed the fundamental responsibilities of lawyers to their clients. In particular, Ms. Alka Bhatnagar, the Government Prosecutor of the Rajasthan High Court, stressed that lawyers and police officers must work in coordination, not opposition. She stressed that lawyers and police officers are the foundation of the criminal justice system, and only through mutual cooperation can they tackle issues such as illegal detention. At one point in the workshop, lawyers were invited to participate in a panel discussion held by Mr. Verma and several other lawyers that focused on overcoming common problems in effective criminal defense. Many participants shared the difficulties they often had in gaining access to their clients, and panel leaders encouraged them to increase their understanding of basic criminal law in order to become aware of their clients’ rights.

At the end of the two days, participating lawyers praised the success of the workshop. Many stated that they had learned more in the past two days than in their entire careers as criminal defenders. The success of the trainings has brought widespread requests for future trainings and CHRI invited IBJ India Fellow Ajay Verma to join their strategic planning meeting panel.