SUNIL SAMDARIA Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is an Advocate by profession, enrolled with Bar Council of Rajasthan vide Enrolment No.R/100/1999, and is practicing in the High Court of Rajasthan, Bench at Jaipur. By this writ petition, he has prayed for a declaration that appointment of Dr. Abhinav Sharma, respondent No.2, as an Additional Advocate General, by the State of Rajasthan, through its Principal Secretary, Department of Law and Legal Affairs, State Secretariat, Jaipur, dated 22.01.2014, be declared as non est and void ab initio. He has also prayed for a writ of quo warranto, quashing and setting aside the order of appointment of respondent No.2, dated 22.01.2014, as an Additional Advocate General of the State of Rajasthan.

(2.) The challenge to the appointment of Dr. Abhinav Sharma as an Additional Advocate General of the State of Rajasthan, vide order dated 22.01.2014, and the prayer for issuing a writ of quo warranto, is mainly on four grounds, namely:-

(3.) On the question of lack of eligibility, it is submitted that Dr. Abhinav Sharma, respondent No.2, had not put in 10 years of practice as an Advocate as on 22.01.2014, to be eligible, for appointment as an Additional Advocate General of the State. He was enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council of Rajasthan on 02.10.2004, vide Enrollment No.R/2399/2004. He had practiced only for 9 years, 3 months and 20 days, as on 22.01.2014, when he was appointed as an Additional Advocate General, and thus, he did not possess the minimum length of practice, which is required to be possessed by an Advocate for his appointment as an Additional Advocate General. He did not satisfy the minimum eligibility, qua the length of practice on the date of his appointment. In Badreshwar Tanti Vs. S.N. Choudhary, 1985 AIR(Gau) 32, it was held that by the Gauhati High Court in paragraphs 5 and 8, that the essential requisite for an incumbent, to be appointed as an Additional Advocate General, is that one must be on the rolls of Advocates for more than 10 years, when he is appointed as an Additional Advocate General.