Gujarat HC reprimands I-T officials for raiding lawyer, says 'no professional will be safe'

The Gujarat High Court, on Thursday, strongly criticized Income Tax (I-T) officers for raiding a practicing lawyer and allegedly confining him and his family to their house for three days.

Issuing notices to these officers, the division bench of justices Bhargav D Karia and Niral Mehta remarked that it was an exercise of "atrocious power in the guise of search of an advocate. No professional person will be safe in the country if this is allowed to happen. We are not living in 1975-76 where you can do anything you like. This is not a state of emergency (sic)."

The bench was hearing a petition moved by 45-year-old advocate Maulik Sheth, who is a practising lawyer at the high court. The lawyer has challenged I-T department's action as a breach of the constitutional right of privacy as well as a violation of attorney-client privilege.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Sheth via video conference, briefly told the court how the petitioner was not allowed to attend the high court, a clear violation of constitutional rights.

The division bench, headed by Justice Karia, reprimanded the I-T officials and issued notices to the respondents, directing them to file replies in their individual capacity. "Let them also spend on lawyers and let's see which lawyer appears for them," Justice Karia said. He posted the matter for further hearing.

In the petition, Sheth stated that income tax officials searched his residence for three days from November 3, making copies of digital data from the iPhone of his wife, minor son, and daughter. These devices were impounded for the search's duration. The petitioner and his family were not allowed to move freely until the search's end on November 6. Sheth claimed he was also prohibited from representing his clients in court during this period, and his daughter was not allowed to attend college.

On the same day, according to the petitioner, an individual named Amit (from the I-T department) with two police officers carrying machine guns went to advocate Hima Patel's house, a freelancer working with Sheth. She was allegedly forcefully taken to Sheth's office, where officials seized copies of files, loose paper data, and discovered Rs 60 lakh cash.

According to the petitioner, the search was carried out "merely because he provided professional services to his client who happens to be the seller in respect of a transaction of sale of land." He claimed in the petition that no books of account or other documents were found during the search which can connect him to his client. The petition states that the I-T officials not only took away confidential documents relating to his clients - Vivek Patel and Trikam Patel - who are under the I-T scanner, but also other clients.