Vital to maintain integrity of Pracha’s data: Court to cops

Chief metropolitan magistrate Pankaj Sharma said since the hard disk has other data stored on it, with respect to Pracha’s other clients, the retrieval of target data without interfering with the other data on the hard disk has to be “meticulously looked into”.

A Delhi court on Friday sought to know from the Delhi Police as to how it would ensure that the attorney-client privilege is not breached while retrieving the “target data” from the computer of lawyer Mehmood Pracha, whose premises were searched twice in connection with the alleged tutoring of a witness by Pracha in a north-east Delhi riots case.

Mehmood Pracha (TWITTER)

Chief metropolitan magistrate Pankaj Sharma said since the hard disk has other data stored on it, with respect to Pracha’s other clients, the retrieval of target data without interfering with the other data on the hard disk has to be “meticulously looked into” and “the evidence should be obtained without creating any evidential vulnerabilities”.

“The search warrants were aimed to obtain the target data and the said data is in the hard disk where other information files, belonging to other clients of the applicant, is also available. In this scenario, the issue relating to retrieval of target data without interference with the other data stored in the hard disk has to be meticulously looked into and at the same time, obtaining target data without creating any evidential vulnerabilities for future purpose has to be considered because it is important for the investigating officer to maintain authenticity and integrity of the target data,” the judge said.

The court’s observations came while hearing a plea by Pracha, seeking modifications to a March 2 order of the court, where the judge had given police permission to search Pracha’s premises in Nizamuddin East.

The court will now further hear the matter on March 19, by which time the police have to satisfy the judge’s queries.

Pracha, who is representing several accused and victims in the Delhi riots cases, had said the demand for the hard disk is illegal as all documents are already in the police’s possession from the earlier search conducted on December 25, 2020.

On Friday, Pracha said he stands vindicated as the judge has accepted his contentions on attorney-client privilege and is looking to safeguard the data of his other clients.