The government law officers in Kerala, including those in the top rung like the Advocate General (AG), have received a good hike bypassing objections raised by the finance department, thanks to the timely intervention of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The finance department had objected to the proposal for a hike in remuneration of the law officers, according to the minutes of the state cabinet meeting. The government will have to cough up Rs 8.62 crore more to pay dues to the judicial officers, with the hike coming into effect.

The finance department was so steadfast that it hadn't even approved the proposal to revise fees and allowances of Advocate General, Additional Advocates General, Director General of Prosecution, Additional Director General of Prosecution and State Attorney until the Chief Minister took up the matter with the finance minister. After much coercion, the finance wing had only agreed to hike the monthly remuneration of special government pleader, senior government pleader and government pleader, documents show.

The law department recently issued an order revising the remuneration and the fee for the appearance of the Advocate General, Additional Advocates General, Director General of Prosecution, Additional Director General of Prosecution and State Attorney at the following rates:

Notes of the cabinet meeting show that in response to the letter sent by the Advocate General in May 2023 regarding the hike, the finance department remarked that the government lawyers from the rank of Advocate General are paid well at present and demand for a hike cannot be considered only based on the last revised date. The department also sought a report on expenses related to payment of wages for the AG and others in the last three years and a comparison of wages of judicial officers in other states.

The AG responded to this remark and when the law department sought the opinion of the finance department, it approved a 16-17 per cent hike in wages of law officers. The department did not consider the proposal for hike for AG and other senior judicial officers. The law minister then forwarded the file to the Chief Minister and asked if the proposal of hike for the AG and other officers can be rejected since the finance department did not consider it. Strangely, it also asked whether the remuneration of the AG and others can be revised as per the proposal.

The Chief Minister sent this file containing queries to the finance minister and the minister approved revision of fees and allowances of the AG. He also remarked that there was no need for an amendment in law to allow fees for each case as the judicial officers appear for more than one case in a day. The request for a special fee for preliminary preparations ahead of a case was also not entertained.

The Chief Minister again sent this file seeking clarity on the revision of allowance for the AG, fee for appearance in the HC single bench, division bench and the Supreme Court. The finance minister then further revised his remark to hike the allowance from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000, and the fees for appearance in HC single bench and division bench were hiked again.

When the note came up for the cabinet's consideration, the year from which the revision in wages for the special government pleader, senior government pleader and government pleader would be effective was fixed as January 1, 2022. The finance minister had decided to fix this as April 1, 2024. By revising the time period from which the hike would be effective, the government has to mobilise funds to the tune of Rs 8.62 crore to pay dues to the law officers.

The recommendation of the finance department was also overruled when the law department issued the order on revision of wages of special government pleader, senior government pleader and government pleader. If the department wanted it to be hiked by 16-17 per cent, the order shows that the salary has been hiked by 25-27 per cent. In the case of special government pleader, the department recommended a hike from Rs 1,20,000 to Rs 1,40,000. However, as per the order the revision is from Rs 1,20,000 to Rs 1,50,000. The wages of the senior government pleader and the government pleader have also been revised at variance with the original recommendation of the finance department.