NEW DELHI: A day after the Supreme Court ruled against the presiding officer’s decision to allow nominated aldermen to vote in the mayor’s poll in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that lieutenant governor V K Saxena tried to “influence” the judicial process by forcing Delhi government to appoint a particular advocate to defend the case.Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Kejriwal alleged that petitioner Shelly Oberoi, AAP’s mayoral candidate, had made the LG and Delhi government two separate parties in the case since both held contrary views. He said that deputy CM Manish Sisodia had asked the urban development department to engage Gautam Narayan to represent Delhi government. The LG, alleged Kejriwal, however, wrote to the department on February 9 instructing it to engage solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who was also representing the LG, to defend the state government.”The LG essentially said that my lawyer is Tushar Mehta and your lawyer should also be Tushar Mehta. The urban development secretary was forced by the L-G to appoint him,” said Kejriwal. “To hide facts from the court and the people, the LG muscled his way into getting this appointment done. This must be for the first time that the two opposing parties were having the same advocate representing them in the court.”The CM added, “The LG not only asked the urban development department to take the services of the same lawyer and defend the petition, but also directed the officials to submit a counter affidavit in the court on his behalf.”No reaction was available from the LG’s office.Kejriwal said it was a clear attempt by the LG to prevent Delhi government from presenting its views before the apex court. He added that several lawyers opined that the LG’s move amounted to “interference in the administration of justice”. He said, “The LG is guilty of criminal contempt of court. I have written a letter to the LG urging him not to resort to hooliganism to run Delhi or to interfere in the functioning of the elected government.”In his letter, the CM described the actions of the LG regarding MCD’s mayoral polls as “brazenly illegal” and unconstitutional. He wondered, “Was that the reason why Hon’ble LG wanted to prevent the truth being stated before the Hon’ble SC?” Kejriwal said the LG’s responsibility should be to ensure justice instead of trampling on the constitution.The case related to Shelly Oberoi alleging in the Supreme Court that the LG-appointed presiding officer had permitted the nominated aldermen to vote in the election of mayor, deputy mayor and six Standing Committee members, which was unconstitutional.Following the directions of the Supreme Court on Friday, February 22 has been approved as the new date to hold the election of mayor, deputy mayor and the Standing Committee. The court has ruled that the nominated members would not be allowed to vote in this election.During the three sittings of the newly constituted MCD, unruly scenes were witnessed inside the House over disagreement regarding aldermen and the presiding officer’s prerogatives between the AAP, which emerged victorious in 134 of 250 wards in the civic polls of December, and BJP, which won 104 seats.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-cm-arvind-kejriwal-targets-lg-vk-saxena-over-pick-of-lawyer-in-sc/articleshow/98053891.cms