The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal has declared a panel of 14 lawyers appointed by AAP as ‘invalid’. According to reports, the Lt Governor has cited procedural lapses as the reason behind the order. The Delhi government had appointed the panel of lawyers to fight its cases.
The panel of lawyers reportedly included the names of prominent lawyers like Indira Jaising, Sanjay Hegde, Colin Gonsalves, Rebecca John and Anand Grover. The LG reportedly has stated that the panel, which was appointed in November 2017 did not have his approval and it had also violated the transaction of business rules. The panel was appointed to fight the cases against the Delhi government in the High Court and to give legal advice.
The Principal Secretary to the LG, Vijay Kumar, in a letter to Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash has reportedly written that the orders for setting up the panel has been issued without the approval of the LG and it is also in violation of transaction of business rules under the GNCTD Act. Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash has reportedly marked the copy of the order to the payment and accounts departments under the government of Delhi and hence the said lawyers have not been paid.
.@LtGovDelhi Anil Baijal rejects empanelment of 13 prominent lawyers by #Delhi Government over alleged procedural lapses @the_hindu pic.twitter.com/3POVyNzLR6
— Jatin Anand (@JatinPaul) May 21, 2018
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who is facing probe over an alleged assault on the Chief Secretary, too to Twitter to play the victim without informing people of the entire facts of the case.
LG does not have the power to reject any govt proposal. Under constitution, LG can only express his difference of opinion. This rejection is completely illegal, unconstitutional and without jurisdiction. LG shud follow constitution https://t.co/IGLfqHz29u
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 21, 2018
हमारे सारे advisor reject, सारे वक़ील reject, CCTV reject, doorstep delivery of ration reject. LG साहिब, ज़िंदगी में कुछ construct भी कीजिए, सब कुछ reject, reject and reject? https://t.co/IGLfqHz29u
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 21, 2018
It is notable here that the Delhi government has constantly been at loggerheads with the office of the LG and the AAP leaders, including CM Kejriwal, have a number of defamation and other cases on them. According to a report in The Hindu, Rebecca John stated that she has appeared for Kejriwal in the defamation cases and also on the cases on his MLAs regarding the assault on the Chief Secretary.
