NEW DELHI: After months of tussle between Lt Governor Anil Baijal and the Delhi government over the panel of public prosecutors for the northeast Delhi riots, it is the L-G who has prevailed. Two days after the Delhi Cabinet rejected the proposed list of advocates to represent the Delhi Police in court cases linked to the riots, the L-G sent back the file to the government, which accepted the proposal.
“The Lieutenant Governor has rejected the decision of the Delhi cabinet by exercising his special powers under Article 239AA (4) of the Constitution, the Delhi government is now bound to implement this order,” read a Delhi government statement.
The government said it had objected to the panel of lawyers proposed by the Delhi Police as the courts had questioned the fairness of the police investigations. “The Delhi Cabinet has observed that the courts have already raised serious questions on the fairness of investigations done by the Delhi Police in the riot cases.
The Cabinet has also observed that in such a situation a free and fair trial of these cases would not be possible by a panel of lawyers selected by the Delhi Police itself,” the government explained. But with the L-G sending back the file, the Kejriwal government is bound to abide by the L-G’s orders. Baijal also gave orders to the home department to formally notify the panel of lawyers suggested by the Delhi Police.
This comes a day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met the L-G over the matter but could not convince him to change his mind. Kejriwal wanted his set of lawyers led by Rahul Mehra to be the public prosecutors in the riots cases.
The Delhi Police had sent a proposal to the government to appoint six senior lawyers, including Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi, as special counsels in the high court and the Supreme Court in 85 riot-related and anti-CAA protest cases. In February, communal riots rocked the city, leaving more than 50 dead. The Aam Aadmi Party government blamed the Delhi Police for failing to control the riots.
Order given swiftly
The Lt Governor gave orders to the home department to formally notify the panel of lawyers suggested by
the Delhi Police.