Union law Minister Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday paid a surprise visit to the Supreme Court to enquire into the complaints of corruption and nepotism in the Central Agency — the unit of the law Ministry which deals with Government litigation in Supreme Court.
The Minister interacted with several Government panel lawyers in court and said that the Prime Minister Office had directed him to inspect the Central Agency at Supreme Court following complaints that all was not hunky dory in filing and distribution of cases in apex court.
A group of panel lawyers apprised Gowda that the complaints were indeed true as cases in Supreme Court are marked to some chosen few despite availability of senior, experienced lawyers on the panel. The Minister gave a patient hearing to all concerned and assured steps to streamline the system by which there can be equal distribution of cases to panel lawyers with prior intimation for them to prepare for the case in advance.
Besides assigning of cases, the lawyers demanded that the Central Agency, being a public office, should be accessible to all. At present, some lawyers have complained that meeting the head of the Central Agency is extremely difficult and prior appointment is required to meet the head of the Central agency and that too after the usual Court hours.