Appointment of 103 Law Officers to Madras HC: Govt

The Madras High Court through an order dated January 4, 2018 received the notification of the appointment of 103 law officers from the government of Tamil Nadu.

The order has notified that,

“Under Rule 5(6) of Law Officers of High Court of Madras and its bench at Madurai (Appointment) Rules, 2017, the Government appoint the following Law Officers/Advocates as Special Government Pleaders, Additional Government Pleaders and Government Advocates (Civil, Criminal side & Taxes) in the High Court of Madras and its bench at Madurai…“

The government has notified the appointment of 72 advocates to the Principal Bench of the Madras High Court at Chennai, whereas 31 advocates have been appointed to the Madurai Bench.

The order also states that,

“The appointments in respect of Government Advocates (Civil, Criminal side and Taxes) are for a period of two years from the date of issue of this order as per rule 6(2) of Law Officers of High Court of Madras and its bench at Madurai (Appointment) Rules, 2017.”

Simultaneously, as per Rule 7 of the Appointment of Law Officers of High Court of Madras and its Bench at Madurai (Appointment) Rules, 2017, 34 erstwhile government lawyers have been reportedly terminated by the government on payment of a retainer fee in lieu of a month’s notice.

These developments follow a series of cases that had cropped up in the Madras High Court in 2017, rising from writ petitions demanding transparency in the system of appointing law officers in the state and allegations of politically motivated termination of erstwhile law officers.

The Madras High Court, in the face of mounting arrears of cases left behind due to the impasse, had stressed on more than one occasion that the appointments had to be made promptly, in agreement with the guidelines framed by the Supreme Court.

During the course of hearings, the government had intimated the Court that a mechanism had been formulated to streamline the system of appointing law officers in the state.

Meanwhile, notice has been reportedly issued by a Bench of Justices T S Sivagnanam and K Ravichandrabaabu in a fresh PIL filed by Advocate V Vasanthakumar, challenging the currently prevailing Appointment of Law Officers of High Court of Madras and its Bench at Madurai (Appointment) Rules, 2017 as illegal, arbitrary and against Supreme Court directives.