Mr Rajiv Gauba, Home Secretary, hshso@nic.in

Minister of External Affairs, Dr. S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, eam@mea.gov.in

Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan, hfm@gov.in or pstohfm[@nic.in

14 July 2019

Dear Sirs,

The International Health and Human Rights Organizations (www.ifhhro.org) , the global Medical Human Rights Network, is concerned about legal actions taken against the Lawyers Collective of i.a. Anand Grover.

According to a statement of the Lawyers Collective, the legal actions (First Information Report alleging violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, threatening the registration of the Lawyers Collective) are inspired by the fact that the Lawyers Collective are the legal representatives of persons held in custody over cases of politically and socially sensitive character. The Lawyers Collective sees this as a ‘blatant attack of the right to representation of all persons, particularly the marginalised and those who dissent in their views form the ruling party.’

IFHHRO wants to stress the integrity and position of Lawyers Collective’s Anand Grover, who is the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health. He was the second Special Rapporteur from 2008 to 2014.

In that position he gained global respect and appreciation for his endeavours to explore and apply the concept of the Right to Health to the position of marginalized and vulnerable individuals and groups, such as migrants, elderly people, people without access to medicines. His reports have greatly contributed to better understanding the Right to Health.

IFHHRO calls for respect for the outstanding record of Anand Grover, and its interest and meaning far beyond the boundaries of countries, political divides and communal interests. Anand Grover and Lawyers Collective position in representing socially and/or politically ‘sensitive’ or controversial persons, should be respected in this context.

Kind regards,

Adriaan van Es, MD, secr. IFHHRO