Now that Tahawwur Rana has been extradited to India from the US and sent to an 18-day custody, focus has shifted to advocate Piyush Sachdeva who has been appointed to represent the 26/11 attack accused in court.
According to news agency PTI, 37-year-old Sachdeva is from the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA). He graduated from Pune’s ILS Law College and earned his Master’s degree in International Business and Commercial Laws from King’s College, London.
Social media is going all guns blazing at the advocate empanelled with DLSA since 2021.
The trolls just didn’t seem to spare the “desh ka gaddar”.
“The advocate is hired to delay the judgement so that the issue remains open for many years to highlight Pakistan's role on all international forums,” added another user on X.
The hashtags surrounding #TahawwurRana, #PiyushSachdeva, and #JusticeFor26/11 are among the top trends.
But a legal reality hides behind the public outrage.
In the Constitution of India, Article 22 explicitly states: “No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed... nor shall he be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal practitioner of his choice.”
A 2011 ruling by the Supreme Court of India further underlined that a case cannot proceed unless the accused has legal representation. When a person cannot afford a lawyer, courts must appoint one. And free of cost.
That responsibility often falls on institutions such as DLSA – constituted under the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987, to ensure justice is accessible to the vulnerable. This is how Sachdeva and his co-counsel Lakshya Dheer entered the frame.
"They (referring to NIA) wanted custody to do some further investigation and confront the accused. The NIA had sought 20 days of custody, but were given 18 days of custody," said Sachdeva on Friday morning.
Who is Piyush Sachdeva?
Sachdeva’s legal journey spans more than a decade. Currently a partner at CGC Partners, Sachdeva is known in legal circles as a talented and rising professional with sharp expertise in international criminal law, an experience that makes his role in this case all-the-more pivotal.
His co-counsel, Lakshya Dheer, is a 2018 graduate of Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow. He specialises in white-collar crime, cyber offences and fraud mitigation and has also recently been empanelled by the DLSA to appear in criminal matters before Patiala House Sessions Court.
The criticism they now face, however, lies beyond their resumes.
The case that won’t die
64-year-old Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman, was extradited from the United States to India on April 11 after the US Supreme Court dismissed his final review plea.
He was escorted in a convoy including a SWAT armoured vehicle, a jail van and an ambulance, straight from the airport to the courtroom of Special NIA Judge Chander Jit Singh, who sent him to 18-day NIA custody.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had first chargesheeted Rana in 2011 in absentia.
He is accused of helping David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, the Lashkar-e-Taiba agent who conducted surveillance for the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. Headley had used fake documentation allegedly facilitated by Rana to obtain visas and scout terror targets.
Rana has been booked under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against the state), 302 (murder) and provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The prosecution will be led by advocate Narendra Mann, appointed by the Centre as Special Public Prosecutor.
The legal and the lawless
While Rana’s arrival reignites memories of one of India’s darkest days, the outrage over his defence has laid bare the public’s misunderstanding of legal norms.
Even Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving 26/11 attacker, was provided legal defence in India. So were the convicts in the Nirbhaya rape case. Representation, even of the most reviled accused, is not a loophole. It is part of the law.
What many miss amid the outrage is that public legal assistance is not just a constitutional right, but a yardstick of how some nations operate their justice systems.