LG ‘interfered’ in Delhi govt case in SC, says Kejriwal

Kejriwal’s accusations on Saturday came a day after the top court ruled that aldermen cannot vote in the mayoral elections

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday accused lieutenant governor VK Saxena of “interfering” in the administration of justice by “forcibly” preventing the Delhi government from presenting its views before the Supreme Court in a case filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the timely election of the mayor in the Municipal Corporation Delhi (MCD).

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at a press conference. (HT Photo)

Speaking at a press conference, the CM said, “The LG made an attempt to unconstitutionally influence the case, and to prevent the truth from being presented before the Supreme Court… Urban development minister Manish Sisodia wanted to engage senior advocate Gautam Narayan to present the views of the Delhi government before the Supreme Court. Delhi government is free to choose its own advocate. LG, on the night of February 9, issued an order to the urban development department, asking it to engage (solicitor general) Tushar Mehta as the advocate to present the views of Delhi government.”

The CM said, “The LG wanted to have his advocate present the views of the Delhi government, which was an opposing party (in this case). It might be happening for the first time in history that two opposing parties had the same lawyer.”

The LG’s office did not respond to requests for comments on the allegations.

Kejriwal alleged that Saxena wanted the Delhi government to engage SG Mehta because his (the LG’s) decisions are “illegal and unconstitutional”.

“He misused his post to engage one advocate for two parties and got a similar counter affidavit filed from both the parties. It is the LG’s responsibility as a constitutional post holder that truth from all parties is presented in the Supreme Court, but he tried to prevent them from doing so,” the CM said.

Kejriwal’s accusations on Saturday came a day after the top court, while hearing a petition by AAP mayor candidate Shelley Oberoi, ruled that aldermen cannot vote in the mayoral elections, and made it clear that once a mayor is elected, he or she will preside over the polls to the post of deputy mayor and the six members to the standing committee.

Differences between the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the voting rights of 10 nominated members called aldermen along with the poll process, had stalled the mayoral elections, with three sittings of the MCD House adjourned amid ruckus by members.

Separately, members of the AAP protested outside the LG’s office, alleging that Saxena had delayed the mayoral elections in “connivance” with Bharatiya Janata Party. “BJP lost the MCD election. It has no regard for the Constitution... and it kept trying to form a BJP government through unethical, illegal and unconstitutional backdoor tactics, and the LG was at the forefront of these unconstitutional tactics,” AAP MLA Atishi alleged. The BJP did not comment on the matter.