Race for law secy’s post: Lawyers, judges among 45 aspirants

Centre had put out an advertisement inviting applications last month, and the last day of submission was April 18. But sources in the government told The Indian Express that out of the 45-odd applicants, only 15 met the eligibility criteria.

A month after the government began its search to pick the next Union Law Secretary, opening the post for the first time to persons not from the Indian Legal Services (ILS), the Law Ministry has received 45 applications from across the country. And the long list of aspirants includes a Tis Hazari district courts lawyer in Delhi, a serving sessions judge in the capital, a lawyer in Ghaziabad district courts, the legal remembrancer — a district judge-rank officer — of Kerala, a Supreme Court registrar, and members of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. Ironically, not one officer from the Law Ministry has applied for the post, since none was eligible under the new rules.

Centre had put out an advertisement inviting applications last month, and the last day of submission was April 18. But sources in the government told The Indian Express that out of the 45-odd applicants, only 15 met the eligibility criteria. It is learnt that the Law Ministry, which received the applications, has sent them to the Prime Minister’s Office for further action. The possibility of none of these candidates being appointed, sources said, was “very high”.

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In an indication that the government will take some time before making the selection, the additional charge of the post has already been given to Legislative Department Secretary G Naryana Raju.

So far, the post of Law Secretary was a selection post, with all officers of additional secretary and above rank eligible to apply, following which a panel comprising the Attorney General for India, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary and Department of Personnel Secretary, selected the officer. There is still no clarity as to what selection procedure, the Centre intends to involve for making the selection this time.

Apart from the mandatory law degree, the eligibility criteria for the post, as per the advertisement, includes at least 25 years practice in the Supreme Court and/or high courts, apart from having their name on at least 25 recorded judgments for practising lawyers. Lawyers, employed in law firms or PSUs, who have at least 25 years of work experience, were eligible to apply as were district judges with not less than three years as district judges. The post carries a tenure of five years or up to the age of 60 years.

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