Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday alleged that the BJP was pressuring IAS officers to “stall” payment to lawyers who have appeared for the Delhi government in the Supreme Court.
The allegations come a day after the Delhi government said it had reinstated two panels of lawyers scrapped by Lieutenant-Governor prior to the recent Supreme Court judgment on separation of powers.
Mr. Sisodia alleged that the bureaucrats had refused to pay the fees of the lawyers. “Now, BJP gets officers to stall payment of bills to lawyers who appeared for Del govt in SC. IAS officers refuse to pay bills of lawyers [sic.],” he tweeted.
Following Mr. Sisodia’s tweet, the CM also took to Twitter: “Absolutely shocking. Becoz central govt lost case in SC, is it right for them to stall payments to Del govt’s lawyers, who appeared in that case, by pressurizing Del govt officers? Does it not amount to obstructing administration of justice? [sic.].”
A government official claimed that the general administration and finance departments had argued that the L-G’s approval was required for paying the lawyers despite Law Minister Kailash Gahlot’s decision.
The official said there were many Delhi government lawyers whose payment had not been cleared by the departments.
On Thursday, the Delhi government had reinstated its panel of lawyers in the Supreme Court and the High Court that were scrapped by the L-G. “LG had cancelled Del govt’s panels of advocates in HC and SC due to which Del govt’s cases in these courts were suffering. Today, Del govt restored both panels [sic.],” Mr. Kejriwal had tweeted.
