Lt. Governor scraps appointment of 15 Delhi government lawyers [Updated]

Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung yesterday scrapped the appointments of fifteen lawyers who were appointed by the Delhi government as arguing counsel or filing counsel for the government before the Supreme Court of India..The fifteen lawyers include three Advocates-on-Record and twelve arguing counsel. This came about pursuant to a complaint made by one Vibhor Anand, a law graduate..Anand in his complaint had challenged the appointments of 22 advocates including the appointment of Rahul Mehra as Senior Standing Counsel..It was Anand’s case that the appointments were made without the prior approval of the Lt. Governor which is mandated by a judgment of the Delhi High Court in the case of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi v. Union of India. Anand had, therefore, requested that the appointments be declared as null and void..According to the Anand’s tweet, the Lt. Governor has now quashed 15 of the 22 appointments..The 15 lawyers are as follows:.Advocates on Record.Sh. Chirag M. ShroffSh. Atul KumarSh. Jagjit Singh Chhabra.Arguing Panel .Sh. Sidhartha DaveSh. Manav GuptaSh. Kuldip SinghSh. Amarjit Singh BediSh. Gurmehar Singh SistaniSh. YashvardhanSh. Sunil SharmaMs. Karuna NundyMs. Aishwarya RaoSh. Navin R. NathSh. Niraj GuptaDr. Ms. Charu Walikhanna.The decision on the remaining 7 lawyers, whose appointment have also been challenged, is expected by November 7..What is interesting is that the judgment of the Delhi High Court, which has been cited by the Anand in his complaint, is the one regarding the powers of the Lt. Governor in Delhi. This judgment had gone against the Delhi government and the appeal against this decision is now pending before the Supreme Court..The current step by the Lt. Governor, it would appear, will certainly accentuate the tussle between the Delhi government and the Lt. Governor..Update: According to Deccan Herald, the Delhi government has decided to reject the decision taken by the Lt. Governor and will retain the 15 lawyers. The statement issued by the government states that,.“Cabinet rejects LG’s decision to revoke the appointment of panel of Delhi Government’s SC lawyers…The Cabinet resolves that law is a transferred subject and as per August 4, 2016 Delhi High Court judgment the power to appoint lawyers lies with the elected government.”