NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has disapproved “wild and unsubstantiated allegations” levelled by an advocate appearing in a 2020 Delhi riots case against a Special Public Prosecutor, whom he accused of receiving cash from the Delhi Police in an underhand manner.
Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat said that he does not want to meddle in the allegations levelled by Mehmood Pracha against Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad while dealing with the case about the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots.
The court noted that during the bail arguments of an accused on August 26, argument between Pracha, representing the accused Tasleem Ahmed, and the SPP turned “acrimonious,” resulting in an adjournment.
“However, the court deprecates the wild allegations without substantiation made against the prosecutor and particularly when it did not concern the merits of the case,” the court observed.
Following the adjournment of the case, Pracha moved a preponement application, in which he again alleged that the Special Public Prosecutor had threatened to implicate him in this case, the judge noted.
He said that Special Public Prosecutor 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.
“The court had tried its level best to cool down the tempers between counsel for the accused and the Special Public Prosecutor without any fruitful result,” the order said.About the issue of conflict of interest, the judge said that the accused, despite being aware of the allegations of conflict of interest, insisted on being represented by advocate Pracha.
“Regarding this issue, whether it is a conflict of interest and is not allowed by Bar Council of Delhi regulations, the same is left open for the prosecutor or for the Bar Council of Delhi to consider or to initiate an action if deemed fit under their rules,” he said.