The Kerala High Court recently dismissed two petitions seeking reservation for persons with benchmark disabilities in the appointment of public prosecutors [Mrs Shinu KR v State of Kerala & ors and connected cases]..Justice DK Singh passed the ruling after noting that reservations provided for persons with disabilities under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act) were not applicable to the appointment of public prosecutors or government pleaders, since such posts were not cadre-based services. "The 4% reservation (under the RPwD Act, 2016) is against the vacancies in a cadre. The appointment of the Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor is not an appointment in a service which has a cadre strength, and there are no vacancies against which the reservation of 4% under Section 34 of the Act of 2016 can be made applicable," he observed. .No one has the right to be appointed as Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor.Kerala High Court.The judge added that no one is entitled to appointment as a government pleader or a public prosecutor, which is a matter that is entirely up to the discretion of the government. "Even otherwise, the appointment of the Advocates as Government Pleader or Public Prosecutor is fiat of the Government which is a client before the Court and the Government is entitled to appoint the best of the Advocates as Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor to defend its cases. No one has the right to be appointed as Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor," the February 6 ruling said. .Section 34 of the RPwD Act states that every government establishment must reserve at least 4 per cent of their total vacancies for individuals with benchmark disabilities, with specific percentages allocated to different categories of disabilities like blindness, hearing impairment, and intellectual disability. The provision is meant to promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities in government jobs..Two writ petitions were filed before the Kerala High Court - one by Shinu KR in 2022 and one by Advocate Bino George in 2023 - seeking such reservation for persons with benchmark disabilities in the appointment of public prosecutors.The Kerala government, represented by Senior Government Pleader Bimal K Nath, opposed the plea, arguing that PwD reservation under the 2016 Act does not apply to non-cadre-based services, such as the appointment of government pleaders and public prosecutors. He added that the State government, in its capacity as a lawyer's client, had full discretion to choose who it should appoint as government pleaders or public prosecutors to represent it before courts. .The Court agreed with the State's arguments. It explained that the appointment of government pleaders or public prosecutors are contractual in nature, as noted in the Supreme Court's ruling in State of UP & ors v UP State Law Officers Association.The Court also took note of the Kerala Government Law Officers (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1976, which governed the appointment of public prosecutors and government pleaders. The Court pointed out that these rules did not provide for reservations in these posts. .Accordingly, the Court dismissed the writ petitions..The petitioner, Shinu, was represented by advocates NN Sasi and Harishankar S, while the second petitioner advocate Bino George was represented by advocates Manu Ramachandran, M Kiranlal, R Rajesh, Sameer M Nair, Geethu Krishnan, and Sailakshmi Menon..[Read Judgement]
