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Chandy tries to avert row with judiciary

Trivandrum - The government pleaders have been up in arms against Justice Alexandar Thomas after he questioned the conduct of government cases by them and suggested the closure of the office of the Advocate General.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Sunday sought to avert a confrontation between the government and the judiciary by urging government pleaders to introspect whether the criticism against them by a high court judge had any substance.
The government pleaders have been up in arms against Justice Alexandar Thomas after he questioned the conduct of government cases by them and suggested the closure of the office of the Advocate General while considering a case involving the police last month.
The row snowballed last week when he continued his criticism and ordered an inquiry by Chief Secretary Jiji Thomas into the conduct of government cases in the high court by the 120 pleaders.
The government pleaders had viewed the proposed probe as an attack on the constitutional institution.
Chandy counseled restraint while speaking at a meeting of the government advocates convened in the wake of the development at Cochin on Sunday afternoon.
He said that his government has been maintaining a cordial relationship with the judiciary and he did not want anything to disturb this.
The chief minister urged the government pleaders to view the criticism positively and correct mistakes if any on their part.
The advocates should counter the criticism by improving their functioning instead of picking up cudgels against the critics.
He reiterated that he and his government had full trust in the functioning of the Advocate-General K P Dandapani and his office.
They have fought all government cases, including the high profile Italian marines' case effectively.
He said that the government was proud the way they handled the marines' case.
He said that the government advocates had succeeded in bringing the two Italian marines responsible for the death of two Indian fishermen before the law against a strong battery of senior advocates rallied by the Italian government to plead their case.
Law and Finance Minister K M Mani also backed the advocates saying that they had not given any occasion for the government to bring advocates from outside.
He said that the last Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had spent millions of rupees by importing advocates from Delhi to plead several cases.