Kashish Jain
A Delhi court appointed a local commissioner (LC). The Court also directed police to coordinate with her a visit to advocate Mehmood Pracha’s office to seal his computer, in a case of alleged tutoring of a witness in connection with the Delhi riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana stayed the magistrate court’s order. The order concerned was directing a search warrant against Pracha to be executed, till the next date of hearing. The ASJ issued the directions after Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad did not object to Pracha’s proposal to appoint an LC.
The court directed the investigating officer (IO) to go to Pracha’s office. The officer was to seize the computer. It directed that the entire procedure be video graphed in the presence of the LC. The court, however, said the computer will remain in Pracha’s custody and directed him not to tamper with it.
In an appeal by Pracha against the order by the magistrate court, he opposed the search warrant against him which was said to be executed by law. This warrant was to be subject to safeguards cited by experts. In the prior hearing, the IO and Pracha stated that the computer in question has not been tampered with so far by either of them.