Court deprecates ‘wild allegations’ against public prosecutor
New Delhi: A court here deprecated an advocate’s unsubstantiated “wild allegations” against a public prosecutor of taking cash from police and threatening to frame him in a case.
Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat made the remarks while hearing the case regarding the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
Judge Rawat noted that during the bail arguments of an accused on August 26, arguments between advocate Mehmood Pracha and Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad turned “acrimonious,” resulting in an adjournment.
After the case was adjourned, Pracha moved a preponement application, in which he again levelled allegation that the SPP had threatened to implicate him in this case, the judge noted.
He said that the SPP in his reply said that Pracha made specific personal allegations, including that the advocate conducted a private investigation on him and found out that Prasad, in an underhand manner, took cash from the police.
ASJ Rawat noted the SPP’s reply, according to which, if the allegations were correct, he was not fit to continue in the case and Pracha could place the material on record to substantiate the “false and grave allegations,” which questioned the SPP’s integrity.
The SPP also pointed out that Pracha cannot represent an accused in this case as there was a “conflict of interest” and violation of Bar Council Rules, the judge said, adding, Prasad also asked the court to refer the matter to the Delhi High Court for a legal opinion on whether Pracha could represent the accused in the case.
According to SPP’s submissions, the court noted, Pracha could not represent an accused in this case as he himself has been mentioned in a statement of a ‘public protected witness’ (a public person whose identity has been protected).
As Pracha could be summoned as a witness by the court, prosecution, or any accused persons during the trial, there was a conflict of interest as well as a violation of the bar council rules, the court said.
