New Delhi: AAP on Sunday opposed Bar Council of India‘s (BCI) decision to remove senior lawyer and AAP legal cell chief Sanjeev Nasiar from his post as vice-chairman.
Calling it a ‘punishment’ for his support of AAP, senior functionary and MLA Durgesh Pathak claimed a complaint against Nasiar, dismissed by Delhi High Court over a year ago, was later referred to CBI without investigation. Nasiar alleged that BJP was using Bar Council of India as a weapon against him but remained defiant, declaring he would not be intimidated by the inquiry.
Pathak said, “Today, Bar Council of India, an institution responsible for ensuring justice, has committed grave injustice. Sanjeev Nasiar, a renowned lawyer from Delhi who dedicated his life to the welfare of lawyers, has been punished for his ideological support to AAP.”
He said, “Delhi, under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjeev Nasiar, is the only place in the country where substantial work for lawyers’ welfare was done. Together, they allocated Rs 50 crore from the budget for lawyers’ relief, introducing a groundbreaking scheme through which every lawyer and their family can avail up to Rs 5 lakh in medical treatment provided by Delhi govt,” he said.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said as soon as the letter removing Nasiar from Bar Council of Delhi surfaced, memories of Arvind Kejriwal’s law minister Jitendra Singh Tomar’s fake degree case were revived among the people. “The residents of Delhi still remember the scandal of Jitendra Singh Tomar’s fake degree and people of Delhi are taken aback,” he said. Kapoor lamented that functionaries like Pathak and others in AAP often “crossed all boundaries” in criticising constitutional institutions, which was “highly condemnable”.
Neeraj, BJP’s legal cell convener, said the directive issued by Bar Council of India emerged after a lengthy process of legal scrutiny in Delhi High Court, during which advocate Sanjeev Nasiar was given ample opportunity to present his case, but failed to prove his innocence.
