New Delhi: Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for attacking Congress over replacing former solicitor general of India Harish Salve with Pakistani counsel Khawar Qureshi in the 2004 Dabhol Power Corporation matter, party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala turned the tables and questioned the Centre’s counsel in the Italian marine case, who is also Pakistan’s representative in the Kishanganga Project
“Look at the double standards of the BJP. The BJP in the Italian marine case engaged Alain Pellet as their lawyer. The same Pellet is representing Pakistan in the Krishan Ganga project in Jammu and Kashmir. So now will the BJP or Modi ji answer that why have they hired Pakistan’s lawyer?” Surjewala told the media.
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“Khawar Qureshi, who is being portrayed as a terrorist, has been a part of the Queen’s Counsel (QC) since 1990. He is an additional high court judge in the United Kingdom, and also a professor at the Cambridge University. He was appointed by the Indian government when two investors from En Ron filed a case against India at the International Court of Arbitration in 2004,” he added.
Defending Qureshi, Surjewala retaliated against the BJP while questioning their decision to hire an advocate in the Italian marine fiasco, who is now representing Pakistan in the Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant case in Kashmir.
Developing his scathing attack, Surjewala further questioned the involvement of Defence Minister Arun Jaitley in defending Union Carbide India Ltd., the place where the infamous Bhopal Gas Tragedy took place in 1984.
“Over 3,500 people were killed in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in Union Carbide, whose advocate is Arun Jaitley. I would like to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP to justify this first, before questioning Qureshi and the UPA,” said Surjewala.
Reportedly, a law firm Fox Mandal recommended Qureshi for this case in which En Ron had claimed 6 billion US Dollars against the Indian government.
In power in 2004, the Congress changed the entire legal team of the case and appointed Pakistani lawyer Khawar Qureshi at the International Court of Arbitration.
In Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Khawar Qureshi was the counsel of Pakistan.