Telangana HC directs government to fill public prosecutor posts

HYDERABAD: Displeased with the State government for delay in filling vacant public prosecutor posts, the Telangana High Court on Thursday directed it to file a detailed report informing the steps it has taken in this regard. 

“The State has to fill these posts as public prosecutors are the backbone of the criminal justice delivery system. Trial before criminal courts depends on the availability of public prosecutors. Absence of PPs naturally delays the conclusion of trial. In many courts, there’s no availability of PPs. The State should ensure that no PP post is kept vacant,” the court observed.

As for the government’s claim that it has filled up 212 posts as against a total of 414 PP posts, the court did not appreciate its action, and said that the State would be held responsible for any delay in justice to litigants approaching criminal courts.

A division bench of the court comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy passed this order in a taken up PIL which is based on a letter written by the registrar general with regard to conducting prosecutions in Telangana.

When the government counsel for home T Srikanth Reddy said that deliberations were underway in the matter, and sought some more time for filing an additional affidavit in the case, the bench reminded him that the court had earlier passed a detailed order regarding the filling up of subject posts. 

“We are not concerned with the deliberations of the authorities. We want action to be taken and to see the result. The State should ensure that no post is kept vacant,” the bench noted, and directed the government to file a detailed report on the matter. It posted the matter to April 1 for further hearing.