The Supreme Court ordered a probe into PM Modi's security breach (File)
Several Supreme Court lawyers on Monday said they had received threatening phone calls - allegedly from pro-Khalistan group Sikhs For Justice for the second time in seven days - over a case involving security lapses during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab this month.
Today's calls warned "anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh" Supreme Court advocates they would be held "accountable" after a police case was filed over last week's messages.
"... first we warn advocates. The issue was between PM Modi and Sikhs, but you have filed complaint against SFJ (and) put yourself in a dangerous position. Now we will hold anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh Supreme Court advocates accountable," the caller said.
The calls apparently also contained messages like "(we) will block PM Modi on Jan 26 (Republic Day)" and "(we) will not let Justice Indu Malhotra investigate the PM security breach case".
NDTV cannot independently verify the authenticity of these calls.
Justice Malhotra (retd) was chosen to lead an independent inquiry into circumstances that left the PM's convoy stuck for 20 minutes on a flyover in Punjab's Ferozepur district.
"While we will block PM Modi on January 26, we will not allow Justice Indu Malhotra to investigate (PM) Modi terror plan... We are making a list of Supreme Court advocates and we will hold you accountable You will hear from us peacefully, democratically and loudly".
Last week the caller - believed to be a single person - warned judges hearing the case that they "must not help PM Modi" punish Sikh farmers. The caller also referred to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and accused the court of remaining silent after Sikh farmers died while protesting the farm laws.
"The call specifically asked Supreme Court Judges to refrain from hearing the petition on the blockade of PM Modi's cavalcade," Vishnu Shankar Jain, a lawyer for the UP government, told NDTV.
A lawyer - Deepak Prakash - filed a police case over what he called "terrifying" calls that could lead to riots. Threats included "extremely adverse reactions affecting national security", he alleged.
Following the first round of calls lawyers were asked to stay away from the case.
On January 5, PM Modi's convoy was stranded on a flyover due to a blockade by protesters in Ferozepur after which he returned without attending any event, including an election rally.
Inquiries were ordered by the Punjab government and the centre, but these were put on hold by the Supreme Court after it constituted the committee led by Justice Malhotra.