The Supreme Court advocate says the raid was aimed at erasing the evidence he had collected which would help in exposing the real masterminds behind the Delhi riots

Zafar Aafaq

NEW DELHI — Senior Supreme Court Lawyer Mehmood Pracha who is representing several Delhi riots victims has alleged that the Thursday’s raid on his office by sleuths of the Delhi police special cell was done on the instructions of Home Minister Amit Shah.

During the search, Pracha said, he was repeatedly threatened with the name of the Home Minister.

The raid happened after the court asked the police to investigate the claims that Pracha had ‘tutored’ some victims and witnesses to depose before the court with ‘false statements’. while Pracha has denied the allegations.

However, Pracha said that the raid was aimed at erasing the evidence he had collected which, according to him, would help in exposing the real masterminds behind the riots that shook Delhi in late February and claimed 53 lives, majority of them Muslims.

“I will either be encountered or killed because there is no other way to stop me and Amit Shah knows that,” he said while speaking to a group of reporters following the raid.

Pracha claimed that the police team conducted searches of his office computers and his bathrooms but “could find nothing”.  “They assaulted me and my associates,” he alleged and added that the investigators inserted pen drives and “hacking machines” in his computers.

However, the Delhi Police special cell stated that the search team was “heckled, obstructed and verbally abused” by Pracha and his associates. They said the team ceased its task in order to “avoid use of force”.

Fearing that police may temper with the video recordings of the 15 hour raid, Pracha moved an application on Friday before the court seeking direction to the police to submit the entire video recordings of the raid before the court as per the earlier order. According to Pracha, the court ordered the Delhi Police to submit the entire video recordings of the search operation.

According to the warrant, the team was authorised to “search for the said incriminating documents and metadata of the outbox of email ID… wherever they may be found whether in computer or in the office/premises… including outbox of email ID… as well as other offices/premises where presence of such evidence are detected during the search/investigation, and, if found, to produce the same forthwith before this court.”

Pracha has, however, said the search team was after a hard disk that according to him contained complaints against the RSS and the BJP regarding their role in the Delhi riots.

The 15-hour raid continued late into the night and saw Pracha’s clients gather outside his residence in his support, and chanted slogans hailing Pracha and denouncing the Delhi police. Pracha and his associates came out on the balcony of his office multiple times trying to assuage the anger of his clients. Eyewitnesses said that Pracha was not allowed to come down and meet them.

The news of the raid sparked outrage among members of the lawyer community who have said that such a raid goes against the law of lawyer-client privileges.

The raid “is a direct attack on the fundamental right of the right to legal representation,” wrote noted Supreme Court lawyer Indira Jaising on Twitter, adding,  “all lawyers must condemn this attack”.

Senior congress leader Manish Tiwari called the raid a “harassment” and said he was “disturbed”.

The Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), a lawyers group, said the raid was “unfortunate and concerning”. The government should refrain from such vindictive actions and should ensure justice to the victims of Delhi riots, APCR said in a press release.

Popular Front of India also condemned the raid and expressed their solidarity with Pracha.