Tushar Mehta-Suvendu Adhikari alleged meeting: Mehta’s denial valid “only if he makes public CCTV footage”, says Abhishek Banerjee

Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee today took to Twitter to say that Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta’s denial of meeting BJP leader of Opposition from Bengal Suvendu Adhikari would be valid only if he makes public the CCTV footages of his residence-cum-office in Delhi as long as the BJP leader was there.

After the Trinamool submitted a complaint with Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding removal of Mehta as Solicitor General of India over his alleged meeting with BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, Mehta went public saying Adhikari had visited his place on Thursday “unannounced”. Adhikari too has denied the matter on Friday in Kolkata. However, some reports on Thursday mentioned the said meeting.

However, it is clear that the Trinamool Congress wouldn’t accept this argument so easily as the political significance is huge.

Following Mehta’s statement, Abhishek Banerjee wrote on Twitter: “Mr Mehta’s efforts to dismiss speculations regarding his clandestine meeting with @SuvenduWB can only be valuable if he makes all CCTV footage public until Mr Adhikari was in his residence. Moreover, was Mr Adhikari present in the SG’s residence without prior appointment? Reports state that Mr Adhikari entered Hon’ble SG’s residence in the presence of a cavalcade of officers and stayed there for nearly 30 minutes. Does that imply that a meeting was indeed due? As the episode gets murkier, one can only hope that the truth shall surface.”

The Trinamool Congress has alleged “conflict of interest” in Mehta’s meeting with Adhikari as the latter is an accused in various criminal cases, including the Narada probe in which he has been mentioned among others. In the Narada case, Adhikari was allegedly caught taking bribes, while in the Saradha chit fund scam case, the prime accused has made “grave allegations” against the BJP leader, who was earlier with the Trinamool Congress. Trinamool Congress leaders pointed out that while Mehta is representing the CBI in the Narada case, he has advised and appeared for the agency in the Saradha scam case in the past. A conflict of interest was thus pointed out.

Mehta today said that there was no question of meeting Adhikari. “Suvendu Adhikari did come to my residence-cum-office yesterday at 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 of my office building and offered him a cup of tea,” Mehta was quoted saying in various reports.

“When my meeting was over and thereafter my (personal secretary) informed me about his arrival, I requested him 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,” he said.