District Judge's Opinion Must Get Due Primacy In Selection Of Public Prosecutors: Kerala High Court Approves Revised Appointment Circular
The Court replaced "due regard" with "due primacy" in draft circular while holding that District Police Chief's role is limited to providing inputs on candidates' antecedents and is not determinative.
The Kerala High Court has held that the opinion of the District Judge must be accorded "due primacy" while preparing the panel of candidates for appointment as Public Prosecutors, approving a revised draft circular governing the selection process after directing a significant modification to its wording.
The Bench made the observation while disposing of two public interest litigations challenging the proposed framework for the appointment of Public Prosecutors in the State.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. observed, “After giving anxious consideration to the aforesaid submissions, we feel that the only modification called for is in Clause (3) of the said draft circular where, instead of the expression ‘due regard’, the expression ‘due primacy’ shall be used”.
Advocate S.K. Adhithyan appeared for the petitioner, Senior Advocate B.G. Harindranath, K. Jaju Babu, Advocate General appeared for the respondent while Senior Advocate P. Deepak appeared as amicus curiae.
The Court examined objections raised by the petitioners and the Amicus Curiae to the draft circular, particularly Clause (3), which originally required the authorities to give only "due regard" to the opinion of the District Judge while preparing the panel of eligible candidates.
The petitioners had also challenged the inclusion of the District Police Chief in the selection process, contending that such participation was inconsistent with the statutory scheme.
Rejecting the contention, the High Court held that there was a legitimate rationale for involving the District Police Chief, observing that police inputs would assist the authorities in verifying the antecedents of candidates seeking appointment as Public Prosecutors. However, the Court clarified that the police officer's opinion is not conclusive and is intended only to aid the selection committee in assessing the suitability of candidates for a public office requiring unquestionable integrity.
“Insofar as the involvement of the District Police Chief is concerned, there is a logic behind it as the inputs of the District Police Chief would benefit the stakeholders to take a conscious decision with regard to the selection of a person. The opinion of the District Police Chief is not conclusive, but is intended merely to assist the committee to find out the antecedent of the candidate, which, having regard to the importance of the office, should be free from any doubt”, the Bench said.
Accordingly, the Bench approved the draft circular subject to the above modification and disposed of the PILs. The Court also recorded its appreciation for the assistance rendered by the Amicus Curiae during the proceedings.
Cause Title: Adv. Sudheer P.S. v. State Of Kerala & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2026:KER:49961)
Appearances:
Petitioner: S.K. Adhithyan, Shahina Noushad, Krishna S. Karunakaran, Anu Chandrakumar, Advocates.
Respondent: Rema R., Spl. Government Pleader, Harikumar G. (Gopinathan Nair) Addl.Director General Of Prosecution, B.G. Harindranath (Sr.), K. Jaju Babu, Advocate General, P. Deepak (Sr.) Amicus Curiae, Advocates.