Engagement of govt lawyers: HC seeks better reply from state with need-based assessment

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Wednesday asked the state government counsel to file a better affidavit detailing a realistic and need-based assessment for the engagement of government advocates in the Allahabad high court and its Lucknow bench.
It listed the matter on September 16 for further hearing.
The order was passed by a division bench comprising justices Rajan Roy and Om Prakash Shukla on September 4 on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by Mahendra Singh Pawar in 2017. The required reply could not be filed at the time of hearing the matter.
The petitioner had challenged the selection process of engagement of state counsel in the high court. He also raised the critical issue of how many government advocates were required to represent the state in the high court at Allahabad and its Lucknow Bench.
The petitioner alleged that the arbitrary engagement of government advocates without a clear, need-based criterion was made.
The petitioner had contended that there was no established criterion for determining the number of government advocates required, leading to arbitrary appointments.
Earlier, the court had sought a detailed reply from the state into the matter. The reply was filed, but the court was not satisfied with it and directed to file a better counter affidavit showing a need-based assessment for engaging legal professionals.
The court had said that the pendency of cases alone could not be the sole criterion. Instead, factors such as the number of cases listed on a given day and the actual requirement of advocates should be considered.
MANOJ KUMAR SINGH