At a time when the AAP government in Delhi is fighting the Centre for getting control of Delhi Police, the turf war is likely to aggravate with the appointment of AAP leader Rahul Mehra as the government's Standing Counsel (criminal).

Mehra, a prominent AAP face on panel discussions, will be representing Delhi Police in the Delhi High Court which has left the top brass of police in a quandary. Fearing clash of interest in certain cases particularly those involving AAP Mehra tilts Delhi leaders and volunteers, police said it will have to hire special prosecutors. They said Mehra's role would become very critical in such cases where he will have to appear against his own party members.

"As the Standing Counsel, Rahul Mehra will be representing Delhi Police in criminal cases. However, when there is a clash of interest, we will hire special prosecutors," a senior Delhi Police officer said requesting anonymity. But sources said this could aggravate the bitterness between the Delhi Police and the AAP government.

There has been a constant tussle between the Delhi Police and the government on several matters, the latest being Delhi Police registering a kidnapping case against the ACB officials who arrested a police constable for accepting bribe. Even in the past, the two agencies were at loggerheads over the control of Delhi Traffic Police.

In his previous 49-day rule, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had staged a dharna demanding suspension of five Delhi policemen who refused to execute the verbal orders of the then law minister Somnath Bharti during a controversial midnight raid against African women.

The government, however, maintained that Mehra's membership of AAP would have no impact on legal proceedings in the court. Delhi Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar defended the government's move saying Mehra was the 'most efficient' person for the job and that he was selected following a thorough process.

"The appointment of Delhi government counsels has been done in a transparent manner and the 'most efficient' person has been appointed to the post," Tomar told Mail Today.

Mehra will lead a team of eight additional counsels on the criminal side in Delhi High Court.

The law minister sought to play down Mehra's association with AAP, saying several senior lawyers appearing in the Supreme Court were also members of various political parties. He maintained that a due procedure was followed for appointment of government counsels.

"The vacancies for standing counsel, additional standing counsel and additional public prosecutors were duly advertised. We received around 1,750 applications. A select committee interacted with all the applicants and the best people were appointed to these posts," he added.

Meanwhile, top officers in Delhi Police have expressed fear that appointment of Mehra will give AAP an upper hand. This assumes greater significance in wake of a series of confrontations between the two sides since formation of government in February this year. This includes the suicide case of Rajasthan farmer Gajendra Singh at AAP's rally at Jantar Mantar, clash with policemen at Burari and subsequent FIRs against AAP MLAs, curtailing powers of Delhi Traffic Police and installing CCTV cameras in police stations.

The Delhi government had also sought information on appointment, transfer and postings of officers and Delhi Police which the latter refused to furnish. The state government had sought details from Delhi Police pertaining to all post-mortem examinations done in various government hospitals in last five years.

Moreover, Delhi Police are investigating nearly a dozen cases against AAP MLAs and volunteers. In some cases, the police have registered FIRs against the legislators on charges of rioting, trespassing and inciting the mob. Police have booked AAP MLAs Sanjeev Jha, Akhilesh Pati Tripathy, Jarnail Singh and Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel among others.

