Former New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly insisted that emails stored on his work computer were unintentionally deleted when he left his office in 2013.

Kelly has been accused of deleting the emails in order to cover up a quota system within the NYPD, reports NY1.

While addressing reporters on Friday, Kelly denied any knowledge that his emails were deleted. He was legally ordered to preserve the messages since they could have been relevant to a class action lawsuit alleging that the NYPD enforced a summons quota system beginning in 2007.

The 2010 suit alleges that NYPD officers issued summonses without probable cause under pressure to meet quotas. The NYPD, however, has denied that such a policy was in place.

City attorneys recently discovered that "a majority" of emails stored on Kelly's desktop computer at NYPD headquarters were gone, according to the New York Daily News. In response, Kelly publicly denied deleting emails relevant to the case.

"I had no role whatsoever in how any NYPD personnel handled my email, its retention or deletion, while I was in the department or subsequent to my departure," Kelly said. "I can unequivocally state that I have never deleted nor ordered anyone to delete any emails relevant to this litigation. Further, I am not aware of any such deletions."

Kelly also argued that he rarely used email to run the NYPD. Instead, the city said in court filings that much of his correspondence was done through other sources.

"As anyone who worked with me in the NYPD can attest, and have already attested in this matter, I did not manage the department by email," he said.

The city claimed the emails went missing after NYPD staff replaced Kelly's desktop computer when he left the department. Plaintiffs' lawyers, however, argue that the loss of the emails reflects a pattern of evidence destruction and obfuscation by the city.

"The city and Ray Kelly have a pattern of changing their story with regard to why they have not produced a single email from Ray Kelly's files," said Elinor Sutton, an attorney in the suit alleging the NYPD issued some 850,000 bogus summons because of the quota system, reports The Wall Street Journal.

"The lawyers for the city of New York, NYPD and Ray Kelly as a named defendant have a legal obligation to ensure they have a detailed understanding of how relevant evidence is preserved to ensure it is not destroyed," Sutton added.

Manhattan Federal Court Judge Robert Sweet will decide whether to impose sanctions against the city for allegedly destroying evidence possibly relevant to the case.