Vijayawada: NIA raids on lawyers condemned

Vijayawada: Indian Association of Lawyers national general secretary Chalasani Ajay Kumar on Tuesday condemned the raids conducted on the houses of lawyers by National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams in Vijayawada on Monday.

Ajay Kumar said the NIA officials violated the rules while carrying out the search operations in the residences of the lawyers Pithukala Srinivas and T Anjaneyulu in Vijayawada.

Advocates under the aegis of Indian Association of Lawyers (IAL) staged a protest near the Bezawada Bar Association here against the raids by the NIA teams in the country, including Vijayawada and several parts of Andhra Pradesh. A large number of lawyers expressed solidarity with the advocates who took part in the protest near the BBA. The lawyers decided to boycott the duties on Wednesday protesting against the raids conducted NIA on the houses of lawyers.

Speaking on the occasion, Ajay Kumar said there is no need to reveal the information related to the conversation between advocates and the clients to the police. It is incorrect to put pressure by the NIA on advocates to give information related to the clients and conversation that took place between the two.

He said the NIA teams conducted searches in the residences of advocates on the pretext that they had evidence related to cases that had happened a long time ago.

“What about the common man if there is no justice even for the advocates in the country? IAL strongly condemns the raids conducted by the NIA teams on the intellectuals and advocates who fight for the rights of the people,” Ajay Kumar said.

Senior advocate Sunkara Rajendra Prasad said some police created a scene near the residences of the advocates and also warned other lawyers that they would be booked and arrested. He said it is illegal to call advocates to come to Hyderabad for the investigation.

Condemning the raids, Bezawada Bar Association president K B Sundar said lawyers would boycott courts on Wednesday in Vijayawada. He called upon the lawyers to unite in condemning the raids irrespective of political affiliations so that such incident do not recur.

TDP MLA Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary expressed solidarity with the advocates. Lawyers Pitchuka Srinivas, T Anjaneyulu, A S S Ram Prasad, Puppala Srinivas, Bar Association former president Chekuri Sripathi, Pilla Ravi, Sampara Srinivas and others participated in the protest.