'Don't act as BJP's lackey': TMC MP Derek O'Brien's advice to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta

In a tweet, Derek O’Brien said Mehta should act in a 'fair manner,' referring to the latter’s alleged meeting with BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien on Sunday targeted Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for allegedly meeting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari, urging Mehta to act in a "fair manner" and not as a "lackey of the BJP."

TMC MP Derek O'Brien (PTI File Photo)

O'Brien's tweet on the Solicitor General comes a day before a delegation of Trinamool MPs are scheduled to meet President Ram Nath Kovind, seeking Mehta's removal.

"Mr Solicitor General, (1.) You gave a post-facto explanation after the story broke, (2.) Conflict of Interest, (3.) Even a public prosecutor (leave alone the high office of SG!) cannot represent or advise the accused, (4.) Impropriety. Act in a fair manner. Not as a BJP lackey," the TMC Rajya Sabha MP tweeted.

Mehta and Adhikari, have both denied that the meeting took place. In a statement on Saturday, the day after the alleged meeting, Mehta admitted that Adhikari came to meet him "unannounced" at his residence cum office though he added that due to a pre-scheduled meeting he could not meet West Bengal's leader of the opposition, who, Mehta said, left without "insisting on meeting me."

Adhikari, a former TMC leader who defeated party supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee from the high profile assembly constituency of Nandigram in the recently held West Bengal assembly elections, is the "accused" O'Brien referred to in his tweet. The Nandigram MLA is an accused in the 2016 Narada sting operation case which is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Mehta, the second-highest law officer of the central government, is representing the CBI in the Supreme Court and the Calcutta high court in the agency's probe against several leaders of the Mamata Banerjee-led party.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, TMC leaders accused the Solicitor General of "impropriety" over his alleged meeting with Adhikari, urging the Prime Minister to remove Mehta from office.