A complaint has been filed today with the Chief Secretary of Goa over the move to illegally appoint an Additional Advocate General for the State.
The Goa Cabinet on 17th June has illegally recommended that Mr. Dattaprasad Lawande be appointed as Additional Advocate General. The appointment if made would be totally illegal as it would be to a non-existant post.
Goa is India’s smallest State and does not need an Additional Advocate General as it would only further burden the State Exchequer which is already in dire straits,
It is now known to all that this very high-handed move to appoint an Additional Advocate General is only to accommodate Dattaprasad Lawande who is a close relative of the current Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni who has now been appointed as the Additional Solicitor General of India.
With Atmaram Nadkarni’s blessings Dattaprasad Lawande is already the Assistant Solicitor General of India beside Government Advocate in the High Court while also drawing a very hefty salary of one lakh a month as Additional Public Prosecutor in the High Court though very seldom appearing in criminal matters.
The Supreme Court in a recent judgment (State of Punjab and Ors. vs. Brijeshwar Singh Chahal and Ors) while holding that power in appointing Government advocates must be exercised only to promote public interest has held that the power cannot be exercised arbitrarily, whimsically or in an un-canalised manner for any such exercise will fall foul of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and resultantly Rule of law to which the country is committed.
