Causing huge embarrassment to Kerala’s Congress-led UDF Government, the High Court on Friday blasted the office of the State’s Advocate General for its alleged criminal inefficiency in handling cases of public interest. This was the second time in less than ten days the AG’s office had come under scathing criticism from the High Court.
While considering some land-related cases, the single-judge Bench of Justice Alexander Thomas, who had on June 23 criticised the AG, the Government lawyers in his office and the Chief Minister for their alleged callousness, warned that the AG’s office would have to be revamped if there was no improvement in its state of affairs.
Stating that there was criminal inefficiency on the part of the AG’s office in handling the cases, the court complained that it had failed to submit the required details of the case despite repeated instructions. The judge pointed out that actions amounting to contempt of court were happening repeatedly from the part of the AG’s office.
The judge opined that the Advocate General, KP Dandapani, had been showing special interest in some cases. Justice Thomas also issued instructions to the State Chief Secretary to examine in detail the lapses on the part of the AG’s office in handling Government cases and submit an independent report to the High Court Registrar within two weeks.
The court observed that the situation in the AG’s office was getting worse and the trend could not be allowed to continue. If there was no improvement in the affairs, the court would have to appoint a retired Supreme Court judge as amicus curiae to hold an in-depth examination of the state of affairs, the judge said.
Justice Alexander Thomas also complained that the Advocate General’s office had been trying to mislead the court in several cases which, in a sense, amounted to interference in the judicial process. He reminded the AG’s office that the money being spent on Government cases was coming from the Exchequer.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan reportedly called for the documents relating to the cases over which Justice Thomas had criticised the Advocate General’s office. He also called for the details of the judge’s instruction to the Chief Secretary. The AG and lawyers in his office had petitioned the Chief Justice after Justice Thomas’s criticism last week.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had led a personal attack against Justice Thomas after his June 23 observations against him and the AG’s office. Speaking in the State Assembly, Chandy had advised the judge not to forget the dignity of his position while Culture Minister KC Joseph likened him to the fox which had considered itself as jungle king after falling in the paint bucket.
However, the Chief Minister refused to take observations of the judge on Friday seriously when newsmen brought the matter to his notice. “Which judge was itIJ” he asked. When he was told the name of the judge, he said in a rather joking manner, “I wanted to hear just that”, refusing to speak more about it.
Justice Thomas had criticised Chandy last week saying that he should not have attacked Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi for representing the State’s bar owners in the Supreme Court when he could not ensure proper functioning of the State law office under him. Chandy had said in the Assembly that he had the responsibility to defend the AG and his office.
On June 23, Justice Alexander Thomas had said that though there were 120 lawyers in the AG’s office, Government cases were not being handled efficiently. He had also said that there was a tendency of removing the lawyers who argued Government cases sincerely, adding that many of the lawyers in the AG’s office were nominees of liquor barons and other business groups.