Taking a serious note of the State government dilly-dallying filling up of 174 Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) posts, Telangana High Court on Wednesday issued notices to Home Secretary Ravi Gupta to explain why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him.
A bench of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy, hearing a PIL plea on filling-up posts of public prosecutors in criminal courts of the State, directed the Home Secretary to reply to the show cause notice by July 7. Earlier, the bench instructed the government to recruit 174 APP posts in different criminal courts of the State to ensure the criminal justice system does not suffer.
Government Pleader for Home Srikanth Reddy sought more time to comply with the bench’s previous direction to fill up the posts when the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday.
Turning down his request, the Chief Justice told him to inform the Home Secretary that the court would reconsider contempt of court show-cause notice only if its order is implemented. Otherwise, the contempt of court notice would be taken to its logical end, the bench said.
During the previous hearing held on this April 1, Advocate General B.S. Prasad informed that Telangana government issued an order a month ago for the appointment of APPs. He sought time to inform the bench the timeline of completing the recruitment process. More than two-and-half-a-month passed since then and still the government wants time to finalise the appointments, the bench noted.
Noting that APPs play key role in administration of criminal justice system, the bench wondered if the government wants to streamline the criminal court system in the State or not. “Does the government want us to put a gun to its head for implementing court orders...is it possible in a court of law?” the Chief Justice remarked.
The Chief Justice recalled that the government delayed even appointment of Director of Prosecutions. “What is happening in the State? Does the government want the criminal justice system to go into deep slumber?” the Chief Justice asked.
Mr. Srikanth Reddy informed the bench that there is a need to amend certain rules in Prosecution Department to complete the process of appointing APPs. “When do you plan to amend the rules...in the next century?” the Chief Justice questioned.
