Govt defends law secys appointment

The government on Monday defended the controversial appointment of B A Agrawal to the post of Union Law Secretary on contract,just one month before he was scheduled to retire.

Replying to a supplementary question by BJP member Ravi Shankar Prasad,Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid told the Rajya Sabha that the appointment of Agrawal,who was earlier member-secretary of the Law Commission of India,as Law Secretary was cleared at the highest level as a high-level technical person was required for the post. Khurshid said the decision to appoint him on contract for two years was taken by the search-cum-selection committee,keeping in mind several developments in the last few years.

The need was for a high-level technical person,a person qualified highly in a professional approach towards handling of law, Khurshid added.