Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 21: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh today expressed serious concern over repeated non-appearance of the Government Advocates and sought an appropriate mechanism from the Law Department to check this tendency.
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In a petition titled Tahira Qayoom Versus UT of J&K and Others, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal observed, “the record reveals that the instant petition was listed on May 19 on which date, counsel appearing for the respondents sought adjournment on the ground that she wants to go through the judgment passed by Jammu Wing of the High Court in an identical matter”.
“Today, when the case was taken up, there was no representation on behalf of the respondents. Day in and day out, this court has been observing that no effective assistance is rendered on behalf of the respondents by all Advocates duly engaged by the Law Department representing the various departments”, Justice Nargal said, adding “it is a routine affair in this court that in most of the cases only assisting counsel are causing their appearance and the counsel duly engaged are avoiding to cause appearance or rendering effective assistance”.
“In legal proceedings, the non-appearance of a Government Advocate, particularly without a valid reason or proper justification, can be interpreted as a breach of duty and potentially lead to adverse consequences for the Government or the relevant party”, the High Court said, adding “such an action could be seen as a failure to fulfil their responsibilities and may result in the case being decided against them, especially if the non-appearance is deemed to be intentional or prejudicial to the other party”.
The High Court further said, “the non-appearance of a Government Advocate might be viewed as equivalent to a failure to meet their professional obligations or a lack of diligence which could have serious repercussions in the legal proceedings”, adding “even the non-appearance of the Government Advocates has already been viewed seriously by the Division Bench in case titled Farid Ahmad Versus State of Jammu and Kashmir”.
Accordingly, the High Court directed Secretary, Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to personally appear before court tomorrow—May 22, who shall ensure that an appropriate mechanism is put in place to monitor the representation of all Government Advocates in the matters listed before the High Court for the departments assigned to them.
“The present order is only an attempt to put in place a mechanism to render effective assistance with regard to the representation of the Government Advocates for Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir”, the High Court said.
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