Govt places before Kerala HC draft circular on public prosecutor appointments

Kochi: The state govt has placed for judicial scrutiny before high court, a draft circular prepared by the law department governing the appointment of public prosecutors in district courts.

The govt move follows a PIL challenging the existing procedure for such appointments.As per the circular, in compliance with HC’s directive, the district collector is required to give due regard to the district judge’s opinion on each candidate’s suitability and merit for appointment. The circular also stipulates that, after preparing the panel of eligible candidates, the district collector shall convene a joint meeting with the district judge and the district police chief to take a final decision.A bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V M Syam Kumar will consider the PIL filed by P S Sudheer, a lawyer from Kollam, raising concerns over the existing public prosecutor appointing procedure in district courts, on Wednesday.Earlier, in a judgment delivered on April 9, 2025, HC had directed the state govt to frame internal administrative guidelines in strict compliance with Section 18(3) of the BNSS, which requires the panel of eligible candidates to be prepared in consultation with the district judge.

The direction was issued after HC noticed that there was no direct interaction between the district judge and the district collector during the consultation process and that, in some instances, adverse remarks made by sessions judges against certain advocates had been ignored.Although the state issued a circular on Dec 3, 2025, in compliance with HC’s directive, the amicus curiae appointed by HC submitted that the circular was not in consonance with the judgment and was merely a modified version of the earlier legal position.

Accordingly, pursuant to HC’s directive, a draft circular incorporating additional guidelines was prepared and placed before court.The draft circular also mandates that the district collector ensure adequate publicity of vacancies by displaying the vacancy notification on the notice boards of the district collectorate, the district court and the bar association, and by publishing it in two vernacular dailies.