A Delhi court has ordered the attachment of movable properties of advocate Mehmood Pracha after he failed to pay a fine of ₹6 lakh imposed on him for seeking to have the Supreme Court’s 2019 Ayodhya verdict declared null and void.
Judge Medha Arya of the Patiala House Court passed the order on August 14 in an execution petition filed by the New Delhi District Legal Services Authority (NDLSA), to which the fine is payable. The matter is scheduled to be heard next on October 1. The court directed that attachment warrants be issued for Mr. Pracha’s movable assets up to the decretal amount, and authorized the bailiff to break open locks if necessary.
Mr. Pracha had filed a suit demanding that the court declare the Ayodhya judgment null and void, citing a public speech by former Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud in 2024. He claimed that Justice Chandrachud had admitted that the Ayodhya judgment was based on the solution provided to him by ‘Bhagwan Shri Ram Lala Virajman’, who was also a plaintiff in the case. However, the trial court dismissed his suit as an abuse of the legal process and imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on him.
The court observed that Justice Chandrachud’s speech referred to praying to God for guidance and did not specifically suggest that Ram Lalla had provided a solution to the case. The court also noted that the Judges Protection Act, 1985, bars legal proceedings against judges for acts performed in the discharge of their judicial duties. On appeal, the district court upheld the dismissal and increased the penalty by another ₹5 lakh.
The court also found that Mr. Pracha had improperly impleaded former CJI Chandrachud as the deity’s next friend while failing to include other necessary parties connected to the original Ayodhya litigation. The order to attach Mr. Pracha’s movable properties was made after he failed to pay the fine despite being given several opportunities to do so.
