HC seeks LG’s reply on Delhi govt plea over choice of lawyers
THE DELHI GOVERNMENT ALSO SAID THE ‘APPOINTMENT OF SPPS’ IS A ROUTINE MATTER AND NOT AN EXCEPTIONAL ONE FOR WHICH REFERENCE TO THE PRESIDENT CAN BE MADE
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Friday sought the Lieutenant Governor’s reply on a plea by the AAP government challenging the decision to allow police chosen lawyers as special public prosecutors (SPP) for cases related to this year’s Republic Day violence and last year’s riots on the grounds that it will not be in the interest of “fair trial”.
The Delhi government also said the ‘appointment of SPPs’ is a routine matter and not an exceptional one for which reference to the President can be made and that the LG had no sound reason for referring the matter to the President when the government had agreed to appoint independent SPPs.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice and asked the LG and the Centre to file response to the petition as well as an application seeking stay on the decision.
The court listed the matter for further hearing on October 21. The Delhi government has challenged the LG’s decision allowing Delhi Police chosen lawyers as SPPs to appear and conduct prosecution in cases relating to violence during the farmers’ tractor rally on January 26 this year and north-east Delhi riots cases of February 2020.
It said these SPPs have been chosen by the Delhi Police and thus have a serious conflict of interest. “The irony is that SPPs appointed by us are independent persons. You can’t have SPPs which are part of the investigating arm, that is, Delhi Police... In Devangana Kalitha’s case, the court has already judicially criticized the shoddy police conduct,” Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Delhi government, argued.
The petition has challenged the July 23 order of the LG by which SPPs have been appointed for prosecuting the cases relating to farmers’ agitation and Delhi riots/ Anti-CAA protests.
It said the SPPs are taking charge of the matters by displacing the regular public prosecutors and therefore, urgent directions are required from the court to enable them to continue so as to not jeopardise fair trial in the cases.
The Delhi government has challenged the LG’s July 23 order by which he has invoked the proviso to Article 239-AA(4) of the Constitution to refer to the President the matter of appointment of Delhi Police’s chosen advocates as SPPs in cases related to the farmers’ agitation and February 2020 riots in North-East Delhi, which the decision of the President is pending.
The petition has also challenged the July 26 notification appointing the SPPs to conduct the cases.