Solicitor General Tushar Mehta denies meeting Adhikari, but says ‘he did come to my residence’

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, 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.

“Shri Suvendu Adhikari did come to my residence cum office yesterday at around 3:00 PM, unannounced. Since I was already in a pre-scheduled meeting in my chamber, my staff requested him to sit in the waiting room of my office building and offered him a cup of tea.

“When my meeting was over and thereafter my PPS informed me about his arrival, I requested my PPS to convey to Mr Adhikari my inability to meet him and apologise as he had to wait. Mr Adhikari thanked my PPS and left without insisting to meet me. The question of my meeting with Mr 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 Adhikari, an accused in the Narada scam case being probed by the CBI, saying it amounted to conflict of interest.

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

Pointing out that 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 Solicitor General.