A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the Allahabad High Court has sought quashing of the appointments of 220 state law officers, alleging that the appointments were made on the recommendation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The petition further alleged that out of the 220 appointments, some appointees are “relatives of dominant politicians in the state, some are relatives of the judicial officers and a few are juniors or followers of Additional Advocate Generals in Allahabad High Court and its Lucknow bench”.
The petition reads, “Because, the list was prepared by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, only the members of the R.S.S./ Officer Bearers have been appointed… That the petitioners got information from reliable sources that appointment list of State Law Officers was made on the recommendation of RSS and several advocates who hold different positions in the Sangh have been appointed.”
The PIL was filed by advocates Rama Shankar Tiwari, Shashank Kumar Shukla and Arvind Kumar through advocates Alok Kirti Mishra and D K Tripathi. The PIL is scheduled to be heard on Wednesday by the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court. The PIL seeks quashing of the impugned selection list of 220 State Law Officers/ Brief Holders (Civil and Criminal) dated August 1, 2022.
The PIL says that the appointments are in violation of the undertaking given by the state government in the High Court, claiming that the rules laid down by the apex court in the judgment in State of Punjab and Others vs Brijeshwar Singh Chahal will be followed. “That the Law & Justice Department, Government of UP, without following the guidelines stated in the L R Manuel, especially Special Secretary Law & Justice, who has signed the appointment letter prior it has not seen the eligibility of the selected candidates,” says the petition. “Neither any application has been invited nor any committee has been constituted and from the back door State Law Officers and Brief Holders (Civil and Criminal) have been appointed in an illegal and arbitrary manner,” it adds.
The petition urges the court to quash the appointments and direct the state to publish a new list while the following procedure. “Issue a writ, order or direction in nature of Mandamus commanding the Opp. parties to constitute a committee for the appointment of the eligible advocates as state law officer/ brief holder…” says the petition.