A Law Department report on the appointment of Rahul Mehra as the Senior Standing Counsel of the Delhi government was being considered by the Chief Secretary, the Delhi High Court was told on Thursday.
The submission was made on behalf of the office of the Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) before Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, who was hearing a plea by a lawyer seeking setting aside and quashing of Mr. Mehra’s appointment to the post.
Matter adjourned
The court didn’t pass any orders on Thursday and adjourned the matter till July 21 on a request made on behalf of the petitioner. The petitioner’s advocate has termed the appointment as “illegal” on grounds that the post of Senior Standing Counsel “doesn’t exist in the eyes of law”. The court was earlier told that the file seeking approval of the city government’s decision to appoint Mr. Mehra as Senior Standing Counsel (Civil) was being examined by L-G Anil Baijal.
The government said on Thursday that the matter had been forwarded to its Law Department, whose report has been placed before the Chief Secretary.
Petitioner Chetan Dutt said, “The Department of Law, Justice and Legislative Affairs issued a notification appointing Mr. Mehra as Senior Standing Counsel for all matters of Delhi....No advertisement for the post, no terms and conditions for appointment, no criteria, no eligibility were made. No sanction was obtained from the L-G.”
The petition has said that judicial review of the notification was mandatory.
