One more senior Kerala govt pleader quits within a month of taking office

Kochi: The resignation spree among govt law officers in Kerala high court continued on Monday, with senior govt pleader M V Bipin becoming the third appointee of the newly elected UDF govt to resign within a month of taking office.Bipin reportedly stepped down following allegations of his political links with the CPM, particularly with claims that he had campaigned for P Rajeeve, a former minister in the LDF-led state govt, during the assembly election in the Kalamassery constituency. Amid mounting controversy and complaints over his appointment, it is learnt that the chief minister sought his resignation. Accordingly, Bipin submitted his resignation to the advocate general, and the govt subsequently accepted it.Earlier, K B Pradeep resigned as special govt pleader (devaswom) following a political row over his appointment. Opposition parties objected to his appointment on the ground that he had appeared as counsel for Smart Creations, Chennai, a gold-plating company allegedly linked to the Sabarimala gold heist controversy, in cases arising from the alleged scam. His resignation also followed the CM’s intervention.

Similarly, P Deepthi, a CPI member of the Tripunithura local committee who had been appointed as senior govt pleader, resigned on June 11 amid controversy over the appointment of a leader associated with an opposition party as govt law officer.The newly elected state govt had appointed nearly 80 govt pleaders in the HC. However, complaints regarding the political affiliations of some of the appointees soon emerged from various quarters, including the state unit of the Indian Lawyers Congress.Meanwhile, the delay in assigning portfolios to most of the 19 newly appointed special govt pleaders is reportedly affecting the conduct of cases in high court. At present, only the revenue and forest departments have been assigned special govt pleaders to represent them in matters before the court. Special govt pleaders for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, atrocities against women and children, cooperation, taxation, finance and criminal matters are yet to be assigned their respective portfolio.