The Delhi government headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has approved the appointments of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi’s lawyer husband Aman Lekhi (Additional Solicitor General) as Special Public Prosecutor/Special counsel in the Delhi riots case. Both Mehta and Aman Lekhi are the legal officers of the Centre’s Narendra Modi government.
The Delhi High Court’s Division Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar was informed about the Delhi government’s approval on Friday, reported Bar and Bench website.
The Delhi government’s approval of two known central government legal officers in the communal riots case evoked angry reactions from Twitterati, many of who accused Kejriwal of ‘hypocrisy.’
Tushar Mehta and Aman Lekhi, husband of Meenakshi Lekhi appointed by @ArvindKejriwal government as special counsel in Delhi riots case
Hypocrisy kii koi seema nahi hoti https://t.co/tTDMYwyiDN
— Tajiinder Singh (@TXingh) May 30, 2020
Hello Aditya
Kejriwal has appointed this person SG Tushar Mehta as Delhi Government’s Counsel in Delhi riots case.
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.
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Tell us what Kejriwal deserves now? https://t.co/A3sEwuux4E— Alok (@alokshinde) May 30, 2020
Could Kejriwal get any more obvious about what side he is on?
Tushar Mehta appointed as Delhi Govt’s special counsel in Delhi Riots case!!!
What a disgusting move.
What do AAP folks have to say about this? https://t.co/aHF8WSsT1E
— “PR In The Time Of Covid” ? Lion (@Loquacious_Lion) May 30, 2020
Hindustan Times, which has been receiving front-page ads worth crores of rupees from the Delhi government, reported on Friday that the Kejriwal government had opposed the appointment of Mehta and Lekhi by the LG. But, the Delhi High Court praised the AAP government for arriving at consensus with LG Anil Baijal on the choice of the Modi government lawyers. The high court, according to Bar and Bench website, said, “We hope and expect that such like issues would be similarly resolved in other cases as well, so that the focus of the Court remains on determination of the merits of the disputes before it, rather than on such like issues.”
Delhi had witnessed a large-scale anti-Muslim pogrom in February this year when more than 50 people were killed. The bloodshed was started soon after several top BJP functionaries made provocative speeches targeting the Muslim community.
This year’s communal riots in north-east Delhi had claimed 53 lives and left more than 400 people injured. The Delhi Police have arrested 1,300 people and registered more than 740 FIRs in connection with the riots.