Fresh LG-Delhi govt row over appointment of lawyers to SC

Sparking a fresh row, the Delhi government on Friday rejected LG Najeeb Jung’s decision to revoke the appointment by it of a Supreme Court lawyers’ panel.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting here. A government statement said that in line with the August 4 Delhi High Court judgement, the power to appoint lawyers lay with the elected government. The same judgement had held the LG as the ‘Administrative Head’ of Delhi.

Jung had on Thursday termed as ‘invalid’ the appointment by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of a panel of 15 lawyers to the Supreme Court.

The Delhi government has constantly been at war with Lieutenant Governor’s office — often accusing Jung of ‘wrongfully’ declaring its orders ‘null and void’.

During the meeting, the Cabinet also approved the government’s proposal to provide Rs 1 crore financial aid to the family of ex-serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal, who committed suicide demanding implementation of the One Rank, One Pension scheme. 

The Cabinet also decided to declare him a ‘martyr’.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited Grewal’s village to attend his funeral where he announced that the Delhi government considers him a martyr and will provide Rs 1 crore financial assistance to his family.

The Cabinet also took stock of the air pollution situation in Delhi and directed the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to immediately explore the possibility of engaging an expert agency to study the reasons and recommend remedial steps to counter air pollution.