Kerala CM: Government pleader appointments followed AG consultation, competence check

Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday dismissed the controversy over the appointment of government pleaders, stating that the appointments were made in consultation with the Advocate General (AG) and after assessing the competence of the candidates.

The Chief Minister clarified that the two individuals at the centre of the row, who were reported to have links with the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), were among those recommended by both the Kerala committee and the High Court unit of the Indian Lawyers' Congress. He added that no complaints regarding the appointments had been brought to his notice.

“The allegation was that one of them was an SFI member during his college days, and that the other was an ABVP member when in college. Media reports said the Congress-backed Indian Lawyers Congress had complained about this. No one has complained to me,” the Chief Minister said. “However, the appointments were not made solely on the recommendation of the Congress’s feeder organisation, but in consultation with the AG and after assessing their competence,” he added.

Responding to criticism from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], the Chief Minister refuted charges that the United Democratic Front (UDF) government had increased the number of government pleaders. He countered that the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, led by Pinarayi Vijayan, had appointed 16 government pleaders during its 10-year tenure.

Providing specific details, Satheesan noted that on July 17, 2017, the LDF government appointed five special government pleaders and five government pleaders. Later, during the 2021-2026 LDF government, when P. Rajeeve was Law Minister, the LDF appointed three special government pleaders and three government pleaders.

The Chief Minister stated that the UDF government “has now actually restricted the number to 12”, despite the recommendation by the AG and the Director General of Prosecution to appoint 23 pleaders, given the number of pending petitions in the court.