What he did is not done, it is for the court to decide, say lawyers

Advocate Satish Tamta said, “An advocate is an agent of the accused, and is not permitted to contact witnesses in any manner outside the court.” Senior advocate Rebecca John said contacting a witness in a pending trial amounted to criminal contempt of court. “It is for the court to decide if the prosecution witness is of a dubious character,” she said.

Murari Tiwari, Secretary of the Bar Council of Delhi, said the council, which acts as a disciplinary authority for advocates in the state, takes a serious view of attempts to influence a witness. “Depending on the quantum of involvement of the lawyer, the matter can be professional misconduct or a criminal offence,” Tiwari said.

BJP, Cong slam AAP for defending Bharti

New Delhi: The BJP and the Congress accused the Aam Aadmi Party and Law Minister Somnath Bharti of “disputing the judiciary” after Bharti challenged the order of a special CBI court that had indicted him of tampering with evidence in a corruption case.

Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely minced no words in his criticism of the law minister, though his party had given outside support to AAP to form the government.

Lovely said that it appeared that the “protector of law had become a law breaker”. Leader of Opposition Harsh Vardhan demanded Bharti’s resignation on moral grounds. “I am surprised at the Delhi chief minister. Bharti should have been sacked for trying to save a corrupt official, but instead Arvind Kejriwal is defending him,” Harsh Vardhan said.