Govt pleader appointment row: Chief Minister Satheesan rules out irregularities

Chief Minister V D Satheesan, on Wednesday, brushed aside allegations of unfairness and irregularities in the appointment of Government pleaders.

Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting, Satheesan said he was not aware of any complaints. Reports of dissent within the Indian Lawyers' Congress state committee had surfaced following the appointments. The appointments also faced flak from the Kerala Students Union (KSU). 

KSU state president Aloshious Xavier openly slammed the government saying that people with SFI links were appointed as government pleaders and that it was an insult to KSU workers. 

In a Facebook post, Aloshious said those who had worked hard for the party and faced struggles as KSU activists were being overlooked, while those who carried out the oppression were being rewarded.

Satheesan was dismissive of such statements. When asked about the objection raised by the KSU committee, Law College, Thiruvananthapuram, Satheesan said, "KSU unit of a Law College doesn't decide pleaders for the state government".

He also produced a report of the Indian Lawyers Congress (ILC) and cited that two of the newly-appointed pleaders, whose political affiliations were questioned, have actually been recommended by the ILC. "It wasn't just the ILC recommendations, we studied their background in detail and made the appointments," Satheesan said.

Responding to allegations regarding raising the number of pleaders, Satheesan said that as many as 16 Special government pleaders and government pleaders were appointed during the LDF tenure. 

"Last year, P Rajeev, who was then the Law Minister, further increased the number of pleaders. We received a proposal from the Advocate General and the Director General of Prosecution for 23 additional pleaders. Around 37,000 petitions are pending. Considering the government's financial crisis, we brought down the number to 12. How can former Law Minister hurl allegations like that?," asked Satheesan. 

The government had earlier run into trouble over the appointment of K B Pradeep as the Special government pleader.

He was the counsel of Smart Creations owner, who is an accused in the Sabarimala gold scam case. Following the row, Pradeep had quit as the Special government pleader. The appointment had also hinted at lack of consensus within the government.