LG "forcibly" stopped Delhi government from presenting its stand in SC in mayor case, alleges Kejriwal

New Delhi [India], February 18 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday alleged that Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena "forcibly stopped" the Delhi government from presenting its stand in Supreme Court in the mayor election case.
Addressing a press conference at the CM camp office, Kejriwal said the LG had "misused" power and it should shock the citizens across Delhi and the country.
"LG tried his level best to influence the mayor election case even before it was heard in the Supreme Court. LG's sole objective in doing this was to ensure that the truth does not come out in front of the Supreme Court," he said.
The LG office had earlier rejected some allegations by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi concerning mayoral elections.
Kejriwal said at the press conference that the Delhi Government and the Office of LG were two different parties to the same case.
"This was because the views of both these parties were very different. The steps that the LG had taken to ensure a BJP mayor would get elected irrespective of people's mandate, were considered to be illegal and unconstitutional by the Delhi Government. Therefore, the Delhi Government asked the secretary of the Urban Development department to appoint Gautam Narayan as its lawyer in the case. But on the night of February 9, the LG issued an order and sent it to the UD secretary," he said.
The Chief Minister said the LG office issued instructions on February 9 which said that the "Lieutenant Governor has desired that the Urban Development department shall defend this petition" and should engage the services of Tushar Mehta and counter affidavit has been filed.
Kejriwal said that this is perhaps for the first time in the history of the country that two opposing parties would have the same lawyer to argue the case, and one party is directing the opposing party to support his stance in the court.
"The LG is basically forcing the UD Secretary to defend the misuse of office by the LG. In simpler terms, there are two parties fighting a case in court and one of the party basically says that it will choose the lawyer for the opposing party and file a counter affidavit on its behalf," he said.
The CM said the official reports to the Delhi Government, he was given no choice as the LG has the power to "end his career".
"So, eventually, the UD secretary issued a notification as per the orders of the LG and Tushar Mehta was given vakalatnama by UD Secretary," Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal asked what was the need for the LG to do such a thing.
"This was done by VK Saxena as he feared being exposed in SC. The LG is aware that what he has done in Delhi is illegal and unconstitutional and therefore he once again decided to misuse his position to try and save himself. What the LG has done in this situation is a crime and lawyers have informed him that this is nothing less than a criminal contempt of court," the LG alleged.
CM Kejriwal also said that earlier in the day he wrote a letter to the LG and urged him to stop trying to control Delhi "through unconstitutional means".
He urged the LG to "maintain the dignity of his constitutional office and reminded him that when a matter is in court, a person holding such a position should ensure that the truth can be brought about in front of the court".
Before the case went to the Supreme Court, there were allegations and counter-allegations between CM Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party and LG concerning the mayoral election.
The Aam Aadmi Party accused the LG of wrongly appointing the protem speaker and nominated councilors after the House held its first meeting on January 6 after the MCD elections. The House was adjourned due to ruckus.
Following the allegations, LG office issued a statement rejecting the remarks of AAP leaders about protem presiding officer for the newly-elected MCD and nomination of some members.
"Facts on file not only bely the claims made by CM Kejriwal in his tweets, they also underline that in his quest to manage a positive perception for himself and his party, mislead people. He should, in fact start respecting the Constitution, MCD Act and other Statutes, and refrain from deliberately misleading people of Delhi and the country," .LG office had said.
It had said that the Lt. Governor has nominated 10 persons in pursuance of the Powers vested in him vide Section 3(3)(b)(i) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act (DMC Act) 1957.
"The above is the factual, legal and constitutional provision and any attempts to deviate from it/create confusion regarding it by the Aam Aadmi Party is nothing but its characteristic politics of deceit, blatant lies and deliberate attempts at misleading," the LG office had said.
Lieutenant Governor Saxena on Saturday approved Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's recommendation to hold the mayoral elections on February 22.
As per the order issued by the Lieutenant Governor, elections for the mayor, deputy mayor and six members of the standing committee will be held on February 22.
The development comes a day after the Supreme Court ruled that the election to Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi shall be conducted first and nominated persons have no right to vote in meetings of the Corporation.
The House was stalled thrice due to ruckus following differences between AAP and BJP members.
The House was earlier summoned on January 6, January 24 had February 6.
The municipal elections in Delhi were held on December 4 and the results were announced on December 7. Aam Aadmi Party won 134 seats out of 250. (ANI)