Snehal Upadhyay-
The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir has held no appointment of Law Officers other than the Advocate General in a plea challenging the notification issued by the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, inviting applications for appointment of law officers.
Justice Sanjeev Kumar ruled writ as a Public Interest Litigation application suo moto because it raised groundbreaking issues.
The petitioner said that the appointment of Law Officers was done following Section 124 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir read with Section 492 of J&K CrPC.
The petitioner argued for the effectiveness of the J&K Reorganization Act, 2019 after which the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and the State Criminal Procedure Code, both have been revoked.
The petitioner has also pointed out the eligibility criteria for being arbitrary and irrational as per the notification states that 02 marks for PG Diploma, 03 marks for Post-Graduation and 05 marks for Ph. D. in Law is the required education qualification.
The state responded that the J&K Reorganization Act also recognizes the Rules of 2016 therefore the appointment and conditions of Law Officers service can have a valid regulation in the state.
Whereas the issues related to selection criteria the state objected the Government is well aware of its right in making the selection and hence it cannot interfere unless it is totally arbitrary or is irrational only then any such sort of interference can be made.
The Court mentioned the case of State Punjab & Anr. v. Brijeshwar Singh Chahal and Anr which was decided by the Supreme Court where the Court stated that the states should “Reform their system of selection and appointment to make the same more transparent, fair and objective if necessary by amending the relevant LR Manuals/Rules and Regulations on the subject.”
The Court further directed PIL suo moto and said that these engagements must be merit-based which must not be unjust to Article 14 of the Indian Constitution.
The Court has also posted this matter to the Chief Justice to listen to the matter with the appropriate bench and has ordered no appointment of law Officers should be made until the hearing of the matter is pending.
