SC notice to state over lawyers' appointment in AG office

Times of India: Chandigarh: Saturday, 01 August 2015.

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Haryana government on a plea alleging favouritism in appointment of advocates as law officers in the advocate general's (AG) office.

The apex court has taken cognizance of the matter after hearing a petition filed by advocate Pradeep Rapria, seeking transfer of the case.

The petitioner had approached the SC after the Punjab and Haryana High had adjourned the case sine die. In his plea before the Supreme Court, Rapria argued that loyalty to the ruling party, and not legal acumen, was the deciding factor in the appointment of government advocates in Haryana. Integrity, capabilities, honesty and efficiency of lawyers had become secondary to loyalty to the party in power, he submitted in his petition.

"In the democracy, the government cannot behave like a king who can give benefit to any person as per his whims and fancies," the petitioner argued. He also submitted that the exchequer was held by the state as a trustee of the citizens. The remuneration to such state counsels from the exchequer amounted to largesse, he added.

In his main petition before the high court, the applicant had alleged that there was no specified qualification or rule dealing with the engagement of advocates in the AG office and no application was received from the lawyers before appointing them.

The advocates in question have been appointed on various posts including additional advocate general, deputy advocate general and assistant advocate general.

The petitioner also submitted that as per the reply of the government under the RTI Act, no selected advocate had ever applied for these posts. He prayed that in such a situation, one wondered how the state government had decided on the merit and capability of the selected advocates.

The petitioner has also referred to a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which had held that "engagement of law officers without assessing workload and without inviting applications resulted in payment of idle wages of Rs 2.22 crore".

The development is significant, as a majority of the law officers (in the AG office) are relatives or friends of ministers, political leaders, senior bureaucrats, police officers and MLAs of ruling party in Haryana.