A meeting between West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Thursday looks set to become a political controversy.
Suvendu Adhikari had met Mehta at the latter's residence in Delhi on Thursday; earlier that day, Suvendu Adhikari had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J.P. Nadda.
The Trinamool Congress has reacted angrily to the news of Suvendu Adhikari meeting Tushar Mehta. The party sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi complaining about the meeting. The letter was signed by TMC MPs Derek O'Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Mahua Moitra.
The Trinamool Congress claimed Suvendu Adhikari was an accused in various criminal cases of cheating, illegal gratification and bribery and cited the investigations against him into the Narada case and the Saradha chit fund case, both of which were being probed by the CBI and ED.
The Trinamool Congress letter noted the solicitor general was the second-highest law officer in the country, who advised the government in "crucial legal matters" such as the Narada and Saradha cases.
The Trinamool Congress claimed the meeting between an "accused" and the solicitor general was in "direct conflict of interest with the statutory duties of the solicitor general”.
The Trinamool Congress alleged the meeting was organised to influence the outcome of matters where Adhikari was an accused, "using the high offices of the learned solicitor general". The TMC alleged the meeting reeked of "impropriety" and raised questions about and tainted the position of the solicitor general.
The Trinamool Congress said that to remove any doubt in the mind of the public about the "integrity and neutrality" of the office of the solicitor general, it approached the prime minister to "initiate necessary steps for removal of Tushar Mehta from post of the solicitor general of India".
