Don’t want letter to Chief Justice to be a petition: Ram Niwas Goel to Delhi HC

Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel

Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel’s lawyer told the Delhi High Court Thursday that Goel did not want the letter he had written to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice to be converted into a petition. Goel had written to acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal, saying that in two of three matters heard by a Division Bench, the Assembly was not served notice and that they were not able to present their position to the bench. In the third case, the letter claimed, notice was served an hour before the matter was heard.

As the submission was made orally by the counsel for the speaker, the court asked him to give a written request for withdrawing the three-page letter that was being heard as a petition. The plea was opposed by the counsel for Delhi Chief Secretary M M Kutty and PWD principal secretary Ashwani Kumar, who said the letter was written by the Speaker and only he can withdraw it.

A bench of Justice G S Sistani and Justice V Kameshwar Rao asked the Speaker’s lawyer, Satyakam, to seek instructions in writing and listed the matter for November 8. Goel said, “The letter was between two constitutional institutions and was confidential. I did not want it to be converted into a petition.”

with inputs from PTI