District Judge's opinion takes precedence: High Court on appointment of Public Prosecutor

KOCHI: The High Court directed that the opinion of the District Judge should be given priority while preparing the panel for the appointment of Public Prosecutors in District Courts. With this amendment, the High Court approved the government circular related to the appointment of Public Prosecutors. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V.M. Shyamkumar disposed of the public interest litigations seeking issuance of guidelines for the appointment of Government Pleaders and Public Prosecutors.

The government's draft guidelines state that a joint meeting of the Collector, District Judge and District Police Chief should be convened after the list of eligible candidates is prepared. The final panel of government lawyers should be prepared after discussions and merit-based evaluations. The court clarified that the District Judge's opinion should be given priority when deciding in this regard.

The petitioners had pointed out that the circular made no specific mention that the opinion of the District Judge be given priority.

The court rejected the petitioners' argument that there was an anomaly in including the District Police Chief in the committee preparing the panel for the appointment of the Public Prosecutor. The court said that the service of the Police Chief would help check the background of those included in the panel and can lead to appropriate decision.