Didn’t meet Adhikari, says SG as Trinamool seeks his removal

Tribune News Service

New Delhi/kolkata, July 2

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Friday denied having met West Bengal BJP leader and Narada scam accused Suvendu Adhikari even as he said the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly had come to his residence unannounced.

“Suvendu Adhikari did come to my residence-cum-office yesterday around 3 pm unannounced. Since I was already in a pre-scheduled meeting in my chamber, my staff requested him to sit in the waiting room. When my meeting was over and thereafter my parliamentary private secretary (PPS) informed me about his arrival, I requested my PPS to convey to Adhikari my inability to meet him and apologise as he had to wait,” he said.

“Adhikari thanked my PPS and left without insisting to meet me. The question of my meeting with Adhikari therefore did not arise,” Mehta said in a statement.

Earlier, three TMC MPs wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Mehta’s removal from the post of Solicitor General for meeting Adhkiari — an accused in the Narada scam case being probed by the CBI, saying it amounted to conflict of interest.

The letter was signed by TMC Rajya Sabha MPs Derek O’ Brien and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra.

They alleged that Adhikari faced criminal cases of cheating, illegal gratification and bribery and was caught on camera taking bribes in a sting operation.

The TMC alleged that Adhikari, an accused in the Narada case and Saradha chit fund scam, went to meet the SG to influence the outcome of the cases.

Pointing out that the Solicitor General is the second highest law officer who advises government and its agencies on crucial legal matters, the MPs demanded that necessary steps should be taken for Mehta’s removal to avoid any doubt in the minds of the public regarding the integrity and neutrality of the office of the Solicitor General.