Reservation must be implemented both vertically and horizontally in the appointment of Tamil Nadu Law Officers to the principal seat and the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court and lower courts, according to Suba Veerapandian, chairman, Social Justice Monitoring Committee.
The State government constituted the committee to monitor whether the policies and rules meant to promote social justice have been fully implemented in various fields.
In a recent letter to the Secretary, Legal Affairs Department, Mr. Suba Veerapandian forwarded a representation received from S Karuppaiah, State president, All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations, on the appointment of Law Officers. The petitioner contended that there was no reservation of 19% to the SCs/STs and 30% to the women in the appointment of Law Officers.
“It is learnt that in the neighbouring States like Andhra Pradesh, the reservation is followed, and in Tamil Nadu, the pioneer in the reservation policy, we are of the considered view that the 69% reservation policy should be followed in the appointment of Law Officers in each grade/rank,” Mr. Suba Veerapandian said.
Earlier, the Lok Sabha Secretariat had requested the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary to examine a petition by the Confederation for adequate representation to SCs/STs and women in the appointment of Law Officers to the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) and other courts.
The Confederation had pointed out only six members of the SCs/STs were appointed as Law Officers to the Madurai Bench. Overall, 201 Law Officers were appointed. The six members of the SCs/STs were appointed only to the lower-rank posts of Additional Government Pleader and Government Advocates (Civil). No woman or SC/ST candidate was among the 11 Additional Advocate-Generals.
