Bill on engaging law officers passed

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 29

The Vidhan Sabha today passed The Punjab Law Officers (Engagement) Bill 2017, which paves the way for engagement of law officers in a transparent and fair manner.

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh presented the Bill. Advocate General Atul Nanda was present in the House at that time. The Bill paves the way for appointing senior Additional Advocate General, Additional Advocate General, senior Deputy Advocate General, Deputy Advocate General, Assistant Advocate General and advocates on record.

The bill says the number of law officers to be engaged under each category may be notified from time to time based on the assessment made by the government. This assessment will to be based on the number of courts, the number of cases and the number of officers already engaged.

Of the total posts, 5 per cent have been reserved for district attorneys. Law officers on the remaining posts will be appointed after inviting advertisements. For this purpose, the government will form a scrutiny committee, which will forward applications to the selection committee headed by the Advocate General. The AG has been given the right to engage seven law officers on his own.

The Bill also mandates that an advocate whose professional annual income for the past three years is up to Rs20 lakh can be engaged as a senior Additional Advocate General (he has to have 20 years of standing). The income criterion is Rs15 lakh for Additional Advocate General (designate senior having 16 years of standing); Rs10 lakh for senior Deputy Advocate General (14 years of standing); Rs7 lakh for Deputy Advocate General (10 years of standing); Rs3.5 lakh for Assistant Advocate General (three years of standing).