To fill SC quota in AG office, Punjab to bring in ordinance, cut lawyers’ income criteria by half
A decision to this effect was made in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
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A decision to this effect was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. (Source: File)The Punjab government on Friday said it will bring in an ordinance to provide adequate representation to members of the Scheduled Caste community for contractual engagement as law officers in the Advocate General’s Office by reducing the income criteria by half.
A decision to this effect was made in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
There is a reservation of 25 per cent for the lawyers belonging to the SC community in Punjab which allows the state to appoint 58 members as law officers in the AG office. However, after taking over the reins of the state, the AAP government found that at least 15 seats out of 58 could not be filled owing to the minimum income criterion.
Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said that as per a law-Punjab Law Officers Engagement Act, 2017, enacted by the previous Congress government, the minimum annual income criteria was Rs 20 lakh for Senior Advocate General, Rs 15 lakh for Additional AG, Rs 10 lakh for senior Deputy AG, Rs 7 lakh for Deputy AG and Rs 3.5 lakh for Assistant AG. There was no criterion for the post of Advocate on Record.
“When we started filling 58 posts, 15 remained vacant. Then we realised that we could not get eligible candidates due to the income criteria. We have now reduced the minimum income criterion by half. With this the minimum income criterion would be Rs 10 lakh for Senior AG post, and so on. This will enable us to fill all the posts and extend the benefit to the SC and ST communities,” said Cheema.
He added that the changes will come into effect following the promulgation of an ordinance.
A government statement later said that the Cabinet gave the nod to promulgate an ordinance to amend the Punjab Law Officers Engagement Act, 2017.
“This step is aimed to relax income criteria for contractual engagement of law officers belonging to SC Community in the state. The purpose of relaxation in income criteria is to provide adequate representation to members of SC community for contractual engagement as law officers in AG (Advocate General’s) office, Punjab,” it said.
Cheema said, “No other state has a reservation for SCs in the AG office. We believe that members of the SC community will become judges of the Supreme Court and High Court only if there is a reservation in the law office of the state. However, all political parties have been playing politics. The SCs have not been able to get reservations in Class-I posts.”
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