Andhra Pradesh Law Officers (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Instructions, 2000
Appointment of Law Officers: –
(1) Government shall appoint such number of Law Officers on behalf of the State, to conduct cases before various Courts and Tribunals as they may consider necessary:
(2) (a) A State Public undertaking or a Local Authority or a University or any other instrumentality of the Government may appoint such number of Standing Counsel on their behalf to conduct cases before various Courts and Tribunals as they may consider necessary;
(b) The appointment of a Standing Counsel in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and in any other State Level Court or Tribunal shall be made from out of a panel of three persons prepared by the Advocate-General, after obtaining the prior approval of the Government;
(c) The appointment of Standing Counsel in any other Court or Tribunal in the Districts shall be from out of a panel of three names prepared by the District Collector in consultation with the District and Sessions Judge concerned;
(d) The qualifications for appointment of a Standing Counsel shall be the same as prescribed for the Government Pleaders at the State Level and the Government Pleaders and Assistant Government Pleaders at the District level;
(e) The appointment of Standing Counsel shall be made on the ground of merit and suitability while making every effort to provide equitable representation to members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and Women;
(f) A Standing Counsel shall not appear in any case against the institution for which he is appointed or in any case which adversely affects the interests of such institution;
(g) The honorarium payable to a Standing Counsel may be such as determined by the appointing institution;
(h) Except insofar as it is expressly provided herein, the remaining instructions of this order shall apply mutatis-mutandis to Standing Counsel also.
(3) Government, at its discretion, may entrust important or complex cases either to the Advocate-General, or any of the Additional Advocates-General or in consultation with the Advocate-General, to any senior Advocate.
4. Appointment of Law officers in the High Court etc: – (1) The Government, in consultation with the Advocate-General, shall appoint such number of Law Officers in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad Bench, Special Court established under the Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 1982, Andhra Pradesh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal or any other State Level Court or Tribunal as they may consider necessary:
(2) The Advocate-General shall prepare a panel of three advocates in advance before expiry of the term of the incumbents and send the same to the Government for consideration :-
Provided that the Advocate-General may consider the suggestions of the concerned Department of the Government and the Heads of the Departments as the case may be, in inclusion of persons in the panel:
(3) No person shall be included in the Panel for appointment as Government Pleader, or Special Counsel unless he,
(a) has at least ten years Standing as an Advocate of a High Court or two or more such High Courts in succession;
(b) is below sixty five years of age on the date of inclusion in the panel, and
(c) is an income-tax assessee for a period of at least three years prior to his appointment; or
(d) has practised at the Bar for a period of five years in the case of appointment of members of the Andhra Pradesh State Higher Judicial Service or the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat Service.
(4) Appointment shall be made by the Government,
(a) from among the members of the bar; or
(b) by transfer from among,-
(i) the members of the Andhra Pradesh State Higher Judicial Service from out of a panel of names forwarded by the High Court at the request of the Advocate-General; or
(ii) the members of the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat Service not below the rank of Deputy Secretary to Government in Law Department.
(5) No person shall be eligible for appointment as Assistant Government Pleader unless he is an Advocate of High Court of Andhra Pradesh, at least for a period of five years.
(6) On receipt of a panel sent by the Advocate-General under sub-instruction (2), the Government in Law Department shall consider the same and appoint one among the panel as Law Officer for a term prescribed under instruction 8 or call for a fresh panel.
(7) The Advocate-General shall submit a fresh panel as called for under sub-instruction (6) in the same manner as above for consideration.
5. Appointment of Law Officers in the District Courts and City Courts Subordinate to the High Court: –
(1) Appointment of Law Officers in all the Courts and Tribunals subordinate to the High Court shall be made on the basis of the recommendations of the District Collector concerned who shall ascertain the views of the concerned District and Sessions Judge before making the recommendations.
(2) The District Collector shall prepare a panel of Advocates well in advance before expiry of the term of incumbents and send the same to the Government for consideration.
Note I:- While recommending panels, the District Judge may obtain the Bio-data from such of the Advocates whom he consideration to be fit for appointment and send a panel of eligible candidates on that basis without calling for bio-data from all the Advocates having a particular standing.
Note II:- The Collectors shall, while making a recommendation to the Government, furnish the following particulars, in respect of advocates included in the panel, which shall pertain to a period of three years immediately preceding the year in which the recommendation is made and which shall be in a full and complete form and adequate for the purpose of the selection: i.e., Qualification, age, Social status, Standing at the Bar as an advocate, nature of practice, the number of sessions cases conducted (in case of posts of Public Prosecutor and Additional Public Prosecutor), the number of rules, appeals and the like conducted (in case of post of Government Pleaders and Additional and Assistant Government Pleaders), the amount of Income Tax, if any paid, general antecedents, efficiency, reliability, an appraisal by the Sessions Judge or the District Judge about the nature and quality of advocacy, general repute and personality.
(3) No person shall be eligible for appointment,
(a) as Government Pleader unless he has at least Ten years of Standing at the Bar;
(b) as Assistant Government Pleader,-
(i) in the Senior Civil Judges Court unless, he has at least seven years of Standing at the Bar; and
(ii) in the Junior Civil Judges Courts unless, he has at least five years of Standing at the Bar.
(4) On receipt of a panel sent by the District Collector under sub-instruction (1), the Government in Law Department shall consider the same and appoint one among the panel as Law Officer for a term prescribed under instruction 8 or call for a fresh panel.
(5) The District Collector shall submit a fresh panel as called for under sub-instruction (4) in the same manner as above for consideration.
(6) The Standing Counsel for Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments shall continue to be appointed as per the existing procedure.
6. Appointment of Public Prosecutors, Additional Public Prosecutors and Special Public Prosecutors: –
Public Prosecutors, Additional Public Prosecutors and Special Public Prosecutors shall be appointed as per the provisions of Section 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
7. Guidelines for selection of Law Officers: –
The selection of candidates for appointment as Law Officers shall, as far as possible, be in accordance with the following guidelines:
(a) The selection shall be based primarily on merit and suitability.
(b) In making the selection, every endeavour shall be made to provide equitable representation to members, of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes in accordance with the ratio of 15%, 6% and 25% respectively. Women shall be accorded reasonable representation in all categories.
(c) When merit and suitability are equal, preference may be given to members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and Women;
(d) For the above purpose, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal and other Courts and Tribunals at the State Level may be treated as one unit of appointment and each Zone may be treated as one unit of appointment.
Explanation:- ‘Zone’ for the purposes of this Instructions means a ‘zone’ specified in the Second Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh Public Employment (Organisation of Local Cadres and Regulation of Direct Recruitment) Order, 1975.
