Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Friday refuted allegations that he met Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari, reported Live Law. Mehta, however, confirmed that Adhikari came to his house but the visit was announced.

The clarification came after Trinamool Congress MPs wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to remove Mehta from the post of solicitor general of India. Citing news reports, the MPs claimed that Adhikari, who is accused in the Narada and Sarada cases, was meeting Mehta, who advises central agencies investigating such cases. They said that the meeting was in direct conflict of interest with the duties of the solicitor general.

Mehta, in a statement, said that when Adhikari came to his residence, he was already attending a meeting. “When my meeting was over and thereafter my PPS [principal private secretary] informed me about his arrival, I requested my PPS to convey Mr Adhikari my inability to meet him and apologise as he had to wait,” the statement said. “Mr Adhikari thanked my PPS and left without insisting to meet me. The question of my meeting with Mr Adhikari, therefore, did not arise.”

The letter to the prime minister about the meeting was signed by TMC MPs Derek O’Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Mahua Moitra. The MPs claimed that they had reasons to believe that the meeting was to influence the cases in which Adhikari was an accused.

“We state that the act of the learned Solicitor General to provide an opportunity of audience to Suvendu Adhikari not only reeks of impropriety but also raises the question of integrity and taints the post occupied by the learned Solicitor General,” the letter said.