Times of India: Agra: Sunday, September 10, 2017.
Information
obtained through an RTI reply has revealed that the Uttar Pradesh government
has so far spent Rs 29.5 lakh on various counsels in the Supreme Court merely
to decide which files shall be signed personally by the state's chief minister.
Activist
Nutan Thakur had filed a PIL in Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court
saying that the practice in UP of officers in CM's office putting their
signatures in the name of the chief minister is illegal, having scope for
massive misuse. The high court referred the matter to a larger bench which was
challenged by the UP government before the Supreme Court.
Now
information provided by the law department public information officer Rajesh
Singh in an RTI reply revealed that senior lawyer Rajeev Dhavan was appointed
by the UP government at a cost of Rs 3.5 lakh per hearing, on whom so far Rs 28
lakh has been spent, while another Rs 1.5 lakh has been spent on other lawyers.
Reacting to
this, Nutan said, "This is real misuse of public exchequer where such a
huge amount of money has been spent merely for the CM's personal comfort and to
decide which files shall be signed personally by him."
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