New Delhi, Feb 14 (PTI) A Delhi court on Friday censured a lawyer for being "unprofessional" as he was seen "walking" and then "in a moving car" while appearing virtually on a cellphone in a February 2020 riots case.

Additional sessions judge Pulastya Pramachala was hearing a rioting case against Tahir Hussain and others which was at the stage of the defence cross-examining prosecution witnesses.

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"I do not find any kind of professionalism behind such conduct and submissions of Mehmood Pracha. This is another glaring misuse of VC, which has to be stopped," said the judge.

Earlier in the hearing, advocate Sikander appeared for one of the accused persons Anas and said the main counsel Pracha would conduct a cross-examination in another case as the Supreme Court had directed day-to-day trial in the matter.

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"He (Sikander) was already informed that just because that case has been directed to be taken up on a day-to-day trial basis, the responsibility of the counsel does not come to an end for this case. It was further informed that such a request is not entertainable and he was advised to inform the main counsel accordingly," the judge said.

The court said it waited for Pracha's appearance through video-conferencing (VC) after the conclusion of the cross-examination but when Pracha did not appear, it directed advocate Mohammad Hasan, another lawyer for Anas, the last opportunity to cross-examine the witness on the next date, subject to payment of costs.

"Thereafter, Pracha appeared through VC, while walking on open land through a mobile phone and thereafter, he continued appearing through VC while in a moving motor vehicle," added the judge.

The court said that after objections were raised for such an appearance, Pracha requested for half-an-hour passover.

The court, however, did not recall the final opportunity allowed for cross-examination, saying on the next date the Pracha had to appear at the time of the call itself, without making any request for passover and the VC appearance had to be as per the rules framed by the Delhi High Court.

It also imposed Rs 2,000 costs towards "diet money" for the prosecution witness.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)