State govt has not appointed new lawyers after Sunit Shah quit post in March this year.
The post of government pleader for the Gujarat high court — whose responsibility it is to handle cases on behalf of the state government — has been lying vacant for more than six months, ever since Sunit Shah relinquished the post in March this year. Though the appointment of a competent government pleader is crucial for the image-building of the state before the judiciary, the Gujarat government is yet to name anyone for the post.
At present, advocate-general Kamal Trivedi and additional advocate-general Tushar Mehta are handling all sensitive and important cases of the state government before the Gujarat high court. Additional government pleaders Umesh Trivedi and HL Jani are currently handling civil and criminal cases, respectively, on behalf of the Gujarat government.
According to highly placed sources in the legal fraternity, the state government has invited the names of many prominent lawyers for the post of government pleader, but is yet to take a decision on the appointment. Lawyers Prakash K Jani, MB Gandhi, Umesh Trivedi and Sonia Hurra are currently the frontrunners for the post.
Meanwhile, the more than 50 assistant government pleaders in the state have been facing administrative difficulties on account of the department being without a head. According to sources, the growing number of cases against the state government has made it essential that the post be filled at the earliest. According to the precedent, a lawyer close to the state government who can ably represent it is appointed as government pleader.
At present, the advocate-general and additional advocate-general — the main law officers in the state — have to appear in multiple cases and are hence, facing a heavy workload.
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