Not right to have lawyers suggested by police: Satyendar Jain on Delhi violence cases
Jul 31, 2020
New Delhi [India], July 31 : Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday said that Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal's decision of overturning the Delhi Cabinet's decision to appoint a panel of its own to argue Delhi violence cases in the courts and to appoint lawyers suggested by the police is 'not right'.
"Investigation and prosecution are two completely separate issues -- the investigation is done by the police and the prosecution is done by the lawyers. In my opinion, it is not right to have lawyers suggested by the police," Jain told reporters here.
He added, "We want those who were culprits during the riots to be punished but no innocent person must be punished. It is the law that if the LG wants, he can challenge any decision made by the Delhi Government in front of the President."
"We had rejected the police suggestion in the Cabinet as well," Jain said further.
On June 30, the Delhi government had appointed 11 advocates as Special Public Prosecutors for handling the case of violence in the northeast district in February this year.
The Kejriwal government was vetoed by Baijal on the panel of lawyers to represent the Delhi Police in the cases linked to the violence that broke out in February.
The L-G sanctioned a six-member panel recommended by the Delhi Police two days after the Aam Aadmi Party government had rejected it.
Around 53 people lost their lives in the violence that erupted in northeast Delhi after clashes erupted between two opposing factions over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
