NETRA PAL SINGH Vs. STATE OF U P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BRIJESH Kumar, ACJ. This bunch of writ petitions pertains to the non-renewal of the term of the Government Counsels of different districts. Some of the petitioners had been working as District Government Counsel or as Additional District Government counsel for a quite long period. The State, on expiry of their term of appointment as Government Counsel refused renewal. In one of the petitions, the grievance of the petitioner is that he is not being given extension nor his case for that purpose has been considered according to the provisions contained in the L. R. Manual. We propose to deal with individual cases on merits in the latter part of the judgment. Since the other questions raised are common to all the petitions, we have heard all these petitions together and propose to dispose them all by this order.

(2.) THE main grievance of the petitioners is that action of the opposite parties is arbitrary in refusing to renew their term. It is also their case that the opposite parties should have acted in ac cordance with the provisions contained in the L. R. Manual taking into consideration the opinion and recommendation of the District Judge and the District Magistrate of the district concerned.

(3.) SECTION 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides for the public prosecutors. Sub-sections (4), (5) and (6) read as follows: "section 24 (4) The District Magistrate shall in consultation with the Session Judge, prepare a panel of names of persons, who are, in his opinion to be appointed as Public Prosecutors or Additional Public Prosecutors for the district. (5) No person shall be appointed by the State Government as the Public Prosecutors or Additional Public Prosecutor for the district un less his name appears in the panel of names prepared by the District Magistrate under sub section (4 ). (6) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (5), where in a State there exists a regular Cadre of Prosecuting Officers, the State Government shall appoint a Public Prosecutor or an Additional Public Prosecutor only from among the persons constituting such cadre: Provided that where, in the opinion of the State Government, no suitable per son is available in such cadre for such ap pointment that Government may appoint a person as Public Prosecutor or Addition al Public Prosecutor, as the case may be, from the panel of names prepared by the District Magistrate under sub-section (4 ). "