The Bar Council of Delhi has written to the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, seeking immediate action in connection with the police raid at the office of advocate Mehmood Pracha and registration of a case against him.
The letter reads,
"We notice anguish and anger amongst the legal community, primarily because it goes to the very root and independent discharge of responsibility by an Advocate, as provided under the Constitution of India being integral part of the Justice Dispensation System, the Advocates Act, 1961 and the Bar Council of India Rules."
The letter has been signed by Vice Chairman of BCD, Himal Akhtar; Member of BCD, Rajiv Khosla and former Chairman, KC Mittal.
Without going into the factual matrix of the case, the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) has highlighted Sections 126 to 129 of Indian Evidence Act which provides for privileges to the legal practitioners in connection with communication with clients.
"We think the provisions of law cannot be ignored," the communication states.
The letter further states that there is an understanding that in case of any case against an advocate, the representatives of the Bar Association/Bar Council would be informed and taken into confidence by the Delhi Police.
"This broader understanding is to maintain the harmony and cordiality between the two wings of the justice delivery system. This seems to have not been followed in the present case. While we do not want to go to various asects of the matter, apparently the action of Delhi Police falls short on these aspects, which is a very serious matter as far as the legal community is concerned," the letter reads.
Pracha, who has been representing the accused in Delhi riots cases, was raided by the Delhi Police on December 24. The Police claimed that it was searching for "incriminating documents" and meta data of the outbox of the official email id of Pracha's firm.
He later moved the Patiala House court in Delhi seeking preservation of copies of the video footage of the raids conducted by Delhi police at his office on Thursday.
The Court has asked Delhi Police's response on Pracha's plea and also directed the investigating officer to be present in the court on the next hearing date along with the complete video footage of the search on Pracha's office premises.
[Read letter by BCD]