Complete transparency in government advocate appointments, claims Minister Nirmalkumar

CHENNAI: Dismissing allegations of irregularities in the appointment of government pleaders, including ones raised by members of his own party, TVK, Energy Resources and Law Minister R Nirmalkumar on Tuesday (July 7) claimed that the recruitment process is being carried out with "100 per cent honesty and transparency".

Earlier, TVK Advocates' Wing Villupuram district joint secretary M Gnanasoundari had moved a petition before the Madras High Court alleging that the party’s district secretary Mohanraj was collecting Rs 5 lakh to Rs 30 lakh to select government advocates

'Appointments based only on merit'

Addressing reporters at the Secretariat, the minister clarified that no government pleaders had been formally appointed yet and that only the Government Order for the appointments had begun to be issued from Monday evening.

The appointments were being made only after scrutinising applications received from eligible candidates, he said, adding that only qualified persons would be selected. Nirmalkumar said the government would not tolerate any malpractice during the recruitment process and urged the public to report any instance of money being sought in exchange for appointments.

"If anyone is found accepting money in connection with these appointments, complaints may be lodged and appropriate action will be taken," he said. The Minister also maintained that there was no discrimination in the recruitment process and that every application was being examined fairly.

Six-month review for newly appointed pleaders

The minister said the appointments would be for six months initially, and that the performance of each government pleader would be assessed before making the appointments permanent. He added that the government proposed to appoint nearly 800 government pleaders and is prepared to appoint additional law officers if required. The appointments are expected to be finalised on Tuesday or Wednesday.

According to him, every candidate is subjected to detailed verification by both the government and the police before appointment orders are issued. Drawing a comparison with the previous regime, Nirmalkumar alleged that appointments of government pleaders during the DMK government were influenced by district-level party functionaries. He claimed that the present government had introduced a transparent system after more than four decades and said the six-month probation period had been introduced to ensure only efficient and honest law officers continued in service.