Telangana govt directed to appoint DoP soon

Telangana High Court
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Telangana High Court

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The Telangana High Court Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Bollam Vijaysen Reddy took up hearing a Suo Moto taken up PIL calling for records pertaining to the appointment of Public Prosecutors.

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Bollam Vijaysen Reddy took up hearing a Suo Moto taken up PIL calling for records pertaining to the appointment of Public Prosecutors.

Chief Justice Hima Kohli expressed serious concern over the undue delay on the part of the Telangana government in not appointing sufficient number of Public Prosecutors to the 570 criminal courts spread across the State.

The Division Bench was not at all impressed by the submissions made by the Government Pleader for Home Srikanth Reddy, who informed the court that the State government has taken initiative in appointing 212 Public Prosecutors against 414 existing vacancies and efforts are still on to fill up the remaining vacancies.

Advocate General Banda Shivananda Prasad had held elaborate deliberations with the Home Secretary and other officials, due to which the appointments have materialised and efforts are being made to fill up the remaining vacancies.

CJ Hima Kohli, after hearing the contentions of the GP for Home, observed that six months was not enough for the State government to complete the process of appointment of the Public Prosecutors as the last order was on September 22, 2020 and now, the State government comes before the Court today (Thursday) and seeks some more considerable time for making appointments.

Such an undue delay appointments of PPs will deprive justice to the needy as the Public Prosecutors are the backbone of the Criminal Justice System and the entire trial of criminal cases depends on the assistance rendered by the Public Prosecutors to the court and non- appointment of PPs delays justice, CJ stated.

While reiterating the contention of the GP for Home that 212 Public Prosecutors have been appointed as of now, CJ Hima Kohli observed "that means again one Public Prosecutor managing 2 courts as there are 570 criminal courts in the State, which ultimately delays trial and justice is deprived and delayed to the needy.

Further, Chief Justice took serious note of the fact that the post of Director of Prosecution(DoP) is still lying vacant and expressed concern over non appointment of a regular officer in this post as one officer, who is already held up with the work is being given additional charge.

The Director of Prosecution plays a crucial role in the appointment of the Public Prosecutors, observed CJ.

The matter adjourned to April 1, 2021.

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