Editor Mr.Mayank Rawat ( Chief Editor Mr. Rohit Mishra )
New Delhi: A court reprimanded a lawyer for recalling a witness for cross-examination in a 2020 northeast Delhi riots case. An advocate cannot be engaged in another court and seek adjournments while a witness is present on a particular day for examination, it observed.
The court of additional sessions judge Pulastya Pramachala criticised advocate Mehmood Pracha in an order dated March 19. Pracha and his two associates were representing one of the accused, Haseen alias Mullaji, in the case, in which 11 people, including former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, have been booked on the charges of criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity on religious grounds.
The judge said that while Pracha was busy appearing before Delhi High Court, his two associates could have completed the cross-examination on that day itself.
The court made these observations while dismissing an application by Pracha to recall a forensic expert for further cross-examination as he could not be sufficiently cross-examined in Feb. Special public prosecutor Madhukar Pandey submitted that Pracha had taken the same approach in the past too.
The court said, “Counsels are expected to manage among themselves when they accept a case, while having other cases also pending for hearing.”
Mayank Rawat
