Supreme Court pauses GST action on lawyer's seized data till September 28

The Supreme Court on Friday asked GST authorities not to analyse data seized from advocate Puneet Batra’s office or take coercive action until it hears his plea on September 28.

Batra has challenged a Delhi High Court ruling that a lawyer’s office can be searched if there is prima facie evidence that the lawyer has committed an offence. His counsel argued that a computer seized during the search could contain confidential information about clients.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu said the case files had reached it late at night and proposed hearing the matter on Monday. Senior advocate N Hariharan, appearing for Batra, said the agency had summoned his client for the same day and sought protection in the meantime.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the authorities, said the agency was only analysing the data and that the case did not involve a lawyer-client relationship. The bench asked him to hold off until it had examined the record.

“You have read the briefs, you know the facts; we don’t. Don’t do anything till Monday,” the bench said.

The court had agreed on Wednesday to hear Batra’s plea urgently after senior advocate Vikas Singh raised concerns that accessing the seized computer could expose privileged client material. The matter will be heard on September 28.