Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has clearly acted in rank violation of the Criminal Procedure Code in the appointment of Special Public Prosecutors. The Goa Government by an order has appointed Saresh Lotlikar, Ashwin Bhobe and Devidas Pangam as Special Public Prosecutors in the High Court and Francis Tavora, Prasad Kirtani and SB Faria in the Trial Courts. Section 25A of the Criminal Procedure Code mandates that all Public Prosecutors and Special Public Prosecutors in all courts including the High Court shall be subordinate to the Director of Prosecution. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar could not have directed that the allotment of cases to these Special Public Prosecutors be done by Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni. The Advocate General being a political appointee is bound to influence decisions on defending matters, if allowed to intermeddle with the work-allocation amongst the PPs, Addl. PPs and Special PPs. One wonders why India’s highest paid Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni did not place the correct legal position to the otherwise ‘legally raw’ Chief Minister. Infact Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had specifically assured in the last monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly that allotment of cases to all Public Prosecutors including those in the High Court would henceforth be done by the Director of Prosecution in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code. Why was there need of three more Special Public Prosecutors in the High Court in addition to the existing four who themselves do not have enough work. This also runs contrary to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s vow last year to slash to half all litigation involving the government. The unnecessary appointment of three Special Public Prosecutors in the trial courts would cast a shadow of doubt on the competence and integrity while demoralizing the regular Public Prosecutors and Assistant Public Prosecutors. The possible motive behind the appointment of these Special Public Prosecutors without consulting the Director of Prosecution may be to ensure that the cases are manipulated under the directions and supervision of Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni. Why have the terms and conditions including the fees of these six newly appointed Special Public Prosecutors not been fixed in advance. In keeping with professional ethics these six Special Public Prosecutors should now not be appearing in any matters against the government. Even those in the worlds oldest profession do it better.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:20:28 +0000
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