<p>Keeping its promise, the Arvind Kejriwal government has taken a big step in transparent governance by appointing its standing counsel for the Delhi High Court through invitation of applications through ads and interview – something which has not been done for years.</p>.<p> This, perhaps, is the first occasion in a decade when applications for the top government lawyer’s post were invited through newspaper and online advertisements, a formal process of laying down criteria and interview, said a law department official.<br /><br />Advocate Raman Duggal was appointed as standing counsel to represent the Delhi government in civil matters in the Delhi High Court. He will head a team of eight additional standing counsel.<br /><br />“The standing counsel was selected after a rigorous eight-hour interview process by a three-member panel,” said an official, pointing to the allegedly dubious practices in other states of appointing politically-well connected lawyers as government counsel.<br /><br />“In Punjab, hundreds of government counsel were appointed without any test or laying down of criteria. The Punjab and Haryana High Court is now hearing a petition questioning these appointments,” said an official, adding that the Delhi government had taken utmost care of picking the most suitable candidate through a transparent and open process. The advertisement for empanelment of standing counsel and additional standing counsel was issue on March 24 with April 7 as the last date of application.<br /><br />800 applicationsSources said about 800 applications were received and out of these a shortlist was prepared for interaction with the selection committee that included Principal Secretary (Law and Justice), Home Secretary and the Law Minister. A final background check of Duggal indicated his strong anti-corruption antecedents. In September 2000, Raman had appeared for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in the high court and told the judge in a case related to unauthorised constructions and alleged corruption that “if we take any action against junior engineers, there will be none left. The officials take money and that is a ground reality”.<br /><br />This factually correct statement by Duggal invited trouble for him from the civic agency which initiated action against him. <br /><br />The court offered a shield to Duggal for saying the truth and issued contempt of court notice to MCD officials.<br /><br /> Apart from Duggal’s appointment, advocates Sanjoy Ghose, Gautam Narayan, Devesh Singh, Satyakam, Peeyoosh Kalra, Anuj Aggarwal, Naushad Ahmed Khan and Santosh Kumar Tripathi have been appointed as Additional Standing Counsel.<br /><br />The names of advocates for appointment of standing counsel for civil cases were cleared by the Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on May 1 after his meeting with controversial Delhi Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar, the Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary.</p>
<p>Keeping its promise, the Arvind Kejriwal government has taken a big step in transparent governance by appointing its standing counsel for the Delhi High Court through invitation of applications through ads and interview – something which has not been done for years.</p>.<p> This, perhaps, is the first occasion in a decade when applications for the top government lawyer’s post were invited through newspaper and online advertisements, a formal process of laying down criteria and interview, said a law department official.<br /><br />Advocate Raman Duggal was appointed as standing counsel to represent the Delhi government in civil matters in the Delhi High Court. He will head a team of eight additional standing counsel.<br /><br />“The standing counsel was selected after a rigorous eight-hour interview process by a three-member panel,” said an official, pointing to the allegedly dubious practices in other states of appointing politically-well connected lawyers as government counsel.<br /><br />“In Punjab, hundreds of government counsel were appointed without any test or laying down of criteria. The Punjab and Haryana High Court is now hearing a petition questioning these appointments,” said an official, adding that the Delhi government had taken utmost care of picking the most suitable candidate through a transparent and open process. The advertisement for empanelment of standing counsel and additional standing counsel was issue on March 24 with April 7 as the last date of application.<br /><br />800 applicationsSources said about 800 applications were received and out of these a shortlist was prepared for interaction with the selection committee that included Principal Secretary (Law and Justice), Home Secretary and the Law Minister. A final background check of Duggal indicated his strong anti-corruption antecedents. In September 2000, Raman had appeared for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in the high court and told the judge in a case related to unauthorised constructions and alleged corruption that “if we take any action against junior engineers, there will be none left. The officials take money and that is a ground reality”.<br /><br />This factually correct statement by Duggal invited trouble for him from the civic agency which initiated action against him. <br /><br />The court offered a shield to Duggal for saying the truth and issued contempt of court notice to MCD officials.<br /><br /> Apart from Duggal’s appointment, advocates Sanjoy Ghose, Gautam Narayan, Devesh Singh, Satyakam, Peeyoosh Kalra, Anuj Aggarwal, Naushad Ahmed Khan and Santosh Kumar Tripathi have been appointed as Additional Standing Counsel.<br /><br />The names of advocates for appointment of standing counsel for civil cases were cleared by the Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on May 1 after his meeting with controversial Delhi Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar, the Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary.</p>
