Legal aid advocate replaced in case of Red Fort blast accused, Amir Rashid Mir

DSLSA acted after videos showed the lawyer speaking about the accused’s behaviour as NIA linked him to logistics support for the bomber.

The lawyer assigned as legal aid to Red Fort blast accused Amir Rashid Mir was removed from the case on grounds of “professional misconduct” just a day after Mir was produced before a Delhi court and remanded to 10 days’ judicial custody, according to people familiar with the development.

Amir Rashid Mir being taken to Patiala House Courts on Monday. (Arvind Yadav/HT)

Officials at the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) told HT the remand advocate, appointed to represent Mir when he was first produced by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) before principal sessions judge Anju Bajaj Chandna at Patiala House Courts on Monday, will no longer appear for him. A new counsel will be assigned at his next court appearance if Mir does not hire a private lawyer, they added.

While DSLSA has not issued an official statement, the persons cited above said the decision followed the circulation of videos in which the lawyer – advocate Smriti Chaturvedi – made comments to the media claiming that Mir “showed no signs of regret” when she interacted with him in court.

When contacted, Chaturvedi confirmed that she was no longer associated with the matter and that a new lawyer had been appointed, but declined to discuss the circumstances of her removal.

Under the legal aid system, a lawyer from the DSLSA panel is appointed by the court when an accused does not engage private counsel.

According to NIA’s remand note, reviewed by HT, the November 10 blast near Delhi’s Red Fort was intended to “threaten public order” and “destabilise and threaten the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of the country.” The agency said the attack was executed “with such intensity and precision” that it aimed to “strike terror in the minds of the general public.”

The note added that the act was coordinated “to cause alarm” and “instil fear,” describing it as part of a larger conspiracy.

Mir, a resident of Samboora village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pampore, was arrested at 12.15pm on Sunday. Investigators said he was a key conspirator who played a primary role in arranging logistics for Umar un-Nabi, the alleged suicide bomber who died in the Red Fort blast. NIA alleged that Mir provided his Hyundai i20 – registered in his name – which was used in the November 10 explosion. He also allegedly arranged weapons and a safe house that investigators believe served as a base for multiple conspirators.