Farmers Movement Archive

‘State lawyers to handle riots, R-Day clash cases’

The Delhi Cabinet on Friday decided that a panel of government-appointed prosecutors will deal with cases related to the January 26 violence during a farmers’ tractor rally as well as the 2020 north-east Delhi riots which left 53 people dead and hundreds injured, and not the prosecutors proposed or appointed by the Delhi Police, the Delhi government said in a statement.The move is in disagreement with lieutenant governor (LG) Anil Baijal’s stance on the issue and has become the latest flashpoint between the Centre and the state government.In July 2020, Baijal overturned a similar decision of the Delhi Cabinet to appoint a panel of lawyers of its choice to argue cases related to the 2020 communal riots and issued an interim order saying till the matter is resolved by the President, the panel of lawyers appointed by the Delhi Police and approved by his office will stand. Currently, the Delhi Police-appointed panel of special public prosecutors approved by the LG is representing the state in the riot-related cases.In matters related to the January 26 tractor rally violence, Delhi Police proposed a panel of special public prosecutors, which was recommended by the LG but dismissed by the Delhi government in a meeting earlier this month. The LG asked the Delhi Cabinet to take a call on the matter and inform his office. The Delhi government, in a statement on Friday, said decisions on the appointment of a panel of special public prosecutors have been sent to the L-G.A senior official in the LG’s office said they are yet to receive communication on the Cabinet decision, and will comment only after they get more details.‘Delhi Police lawyers will rid case of fairness’“The Cabinet refused to permit Delhi Police’s proposed list of lawyers from appearing in the court cases related to the farmers’ protests. The Central Government through the Delhi LG had been pressuring the cabinet to give their nod to the list of lawyers sent by the Delhi Police. The Cabinet, however, refused to allow Delhi Police’s own lawyers from appearing as public prosecutors. In a separate decision, the cabinet also refused to allow the panel of lawyers recommended by the Delhi Police in the North-East Delhi Riots case. The cabinet’s decision has been sent to the Lieutenant Governor,” said the government’s statement issued on Friday.It further said, “The farmers have been constantly agitating against the contentious laws and the Cabinet observed that appointing lawyers of the Delhi Police, who is investigating the case will devoid the case of fairness and impartiality. Similarly, in the second instance, the lawyers were supposed to appear in the north-east Delhi Riots case against those who were accused by the Delhi Police. The Cabinet noted that the courts had remarked that the Delhi Police had conducted dubious investigations earlier in the cases where lawyers of their preference were appearing.”Delhi Police did not comment on the matter.The statement added that the Cabinet observed that the demand of the Delhi Police to appoint lawyers of their choice in the case was “baseless: and “unwarranted”, and that letting Delhi Police’s lawyers appear in the case of the farmers who have been protesting against the three farm laws “would seriously hamper legal parity and would not be fair to the accused farmers who bear a right to go through an unbiased trial”.A senior government official, who did not wish to be identified, said: “Delhi Police, through the LG’s office, has also proposed names of three more special public prosecutors recently with regard to north-east Delhi riots. That, too, was rejected.”The LG’s office did not comment.Move comes in backdrop of Punjab pollsAfter Friday’s meeting, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a tweet, “To support the farmers of the country is the duty of every Indian. We have not done anyone any favour. We have just fulfilled our responsibility towards farmers of the nation. Farmers are not criminals. They are not terrorists. They provide us with food.”A majority of the farmers protesting against the Centre’s three contentious farm laws, which were passed by Parliament in September 2020, are from Punjab. The state is going to the polls in 2022, and the Aam Aadmi Party is the principal opposition party in the Punjab assembly.Earlier in the day, Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said in a video press briefing, “In today’s Cabinet [meeting], we have decided that Delhi government will appoint its own panel of lawyers. The LG had earlier dismissed the Delhi government’s recommendations on appointing such a panel. It is unfortunate that the central government through the LG is intervening in routine affairs of Delhi’s governance. Appointing prosecution in Delhi comes under the elected government’s domain, going by Supreme Court’s directions. The LG, however, has a veto power which can be used in rarest of the rare cases. Such routine use of the veto power is unconstitutional, anti-democratic and goes against the spirit of Supreme Court’s directions.”Senior officials in the LG’s office did not respond to the comments of Kejriwal and Sisodia.Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nalin Kohli said the AAP government was being unreasonable.“Clients have the right to engage an advocate of their choice to prosecute on their behalf. The same would hold true for the Delhi Police. Should they be forced to accept any advocate they do not wish to engage? No. How would the Aam Aadmi Party government feel if the Union government forced them to use advocates they are not comfortable with?,” said Kohli.

Hindustan Times

17-07-2021

India