Nagpur: Even as government lawyers are under the scanner after severe censuring by the high court for “ill-preparedness”, lawyers in private practice blame this on the trend of political appointments, completely ignoring merit.
Many government lawyers in the HC, civil, sessions and other courts are there only due to their proximity to political parties. While those recently appointed are close to the Sangh Parivar and its associates, including the BJP, ABVP and the Adhivakta Parishad, many of those appointed earlier were close to the Congress and NCP leaders.
Principal secretary NJ Jamadar refused to comment on the issue citing his busy schedule.
Lawyers say this has been the practice since last many decades, with those close to the ruling party or its leaders getting the chance to plead for the government in various courts and on the related panels. Irrespective of the party in power, additional and assistant government pleaders (AGPs), and public prosecutors (APPs) are selected on the basis of their relations with the ruling party leaders, whether Congress or BJP, they said.
Though not all of them were ready to say this openly, due to their friendship with AGPs and APPs, some like Shreerang Bhandarkar blame the increasing political interference in judicial appointments, including government lawyers, for the current mess in the judiciary.
“Political pressure was always there, but among the current crop of AGPs and APPs, other than 8-10 of them, rest are not up to the mark. If these 8-10 are exceptional, others are mediocre and unfit for pleading high-profile cases against the government. Their performance appraisal is a must, as mandated by the HC,” he said.
Former assistant government pleader Rajesh Nayak, who resigned in protest after holding the post for six years since 2011, echoed similar sentiments, stating that he was “frustrated” with the lack of work in government pleaders (GP) office. “There is literally no work in the GP office, sometimes for days together. The HC was on the spot in flaying AGPs and APPs, as they have enough time to prepare for cases.”
He said the current crop of AGPs and APPs were close to the BJP and ABVP, since merit is never followed while selecting them. “It all reflects on their confidence to plead. Some of the AGPs have hardly pleaded in the HC while others have very little experience, still they were selected while ignoring merit,” he said.
This is not the first time AGPs pleading for the government have come under the scanner. On October 7 last year, a division bench of justices Bhushan Gavai and Vinay Deshpande had passed several strictures over the way government lawyers failed to properly coordinate with various state departments and seek instructions. The bench observed that they don’t come prepared while pleading cases and remain clueless most of the time.
