Don’t recruit people with political bent as law officers, says high court

By Siva Sekaran | Express News Service | Published: 15th February 2017 01:30 AM |

CHENNAI: Paving the way for excellence and to set right the anomalies in the system of choosing law officers in the State, a panel constituted by the Madras High Court to recommend new rules for recruitment has suggested that no person close to any political party shall be given prestigious posts like Advocate-General, Additional Advocates-General and Public Prosecutor.

It also suggested that no person convicted by a court of law for involvement in any act of moral turpitude should be considered for the posts. Merit alone should be the criterion, the panel said.

The fist Bench of Chief Justice SK Kaul and Justice M Sundar, before which the amicus curies submitted the new draft rules on February 13, directed the Tamil Nadu Government to notify them for appointment of law officers in various courts across the State, including the High Court and its bench at Madurai.

The Bench was passing further interim orders on a batch of PILs, including one from Vasanthakumar, on February 13.

If the State had any concern about the new rules, it could be brought to the notice of the court on the next date of hearing, the Bench added and posted the matter for March 16.

The petitioners had contended that persons having allegiance with the governing party were appointed as law officers, starting from Government advocate to the important post of Advocate-General, irrespective of their qualifications and experience. Merit and legal acumen were overlooked.

The Bench had appointed senior advocates R Krishnamoorthy and AL Somayaji (both former Advocates-General of the High Court) as amicus curies to help the court by framing the guidelines.
Accordingly, they submitted the draft rules last Monday, which the Bench directed be notified before March 16 with changes, if any and necessary.

Among other things, the new rules stipulated educational qualifications and the number of years of service for each category and the constitution of selection panels.
It also recommended the procedure for removing and disqualifying law officers as well as reviewing their performance.