Kin of judges, netas on list of Haryana law officers
CHANDIGARH: Daughters of former Union minister Sushma Swaraj and two serving judges of Punjab and Haryana high court are among 90 names announced by the Haryana government on Friday for appointment as law officers.
The list comes nearly five months after the Manohar Lal Khattar government took over the reins of the state for the second time in October last.
A total of 30 additional advocates general, 30 deputy advocates general and 30 assistant advocates general have been appointed.
An additional AG gets a salary of ₹1.8 lakh and ₹25,000 retainership per month, while a deputy AG gets ₹1.28 lakh a month. The
salary of assistant AG is ₹88,400 per month.
The appointees include Bansuri Swaraj (additional advocate general), daughter of former minister for external affairs, Sushma Swaraj; Trishanjali Sharma (deputy advocate general),
daughter of third seniormost judge at high court, justice Rajiv Sharma, and Deepshikha Chauhan (assistant advocate general), daughter of justice Jitendra Chauhan. Trishanjali has been retained.
Others with high profile background are: Ambika Sood (additional advocate general), wife of Chandigarh BJP chief, Arun Sood; Rajat Gautam (deputy advocate general), son of JJP MLA, Ram Kumar Guatam; Aman Bahri (additional advocate general) brother of justice Ritu Bahri of Punjab and Haryana high court; Deipa Singh (additional advocate general) wife of former Haryana director general of police (DGP), KP Singh; Mahima Yashpal Singhal (deputy advocate general), daughter of former Haryana DGP, YP Singhal; Pankaj Midda (additional advocate general), a relative of Haryana BJP MLA Krishan Midha; Ranjana Shahi (additional advocate general), former UT BJP councillor; Ranvir Singh Arya son of Bharti Janta Party (BJP) leader Bachhan Singh Arya and Ravinder Singh Dhull (additional advocate general), son of BJP leader, Parminder Singh Dhull.
Ravinder was a petitioner, in 2017 Panchkula violence case PIL reported in the aftermath of conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, which is still under adjudication at the high court.
Sandeep Singh Mann (additional advocate general), a relative of justice (retd) TPS Mann and Sanjay Mittal (additional advocate general), a relative of justice (rerd) SK Mittal, are also on the list. Both were former judges of Punjab and Haryana high court.
Also on the list are Sumit Jain (additional advocate general), a former secretary of Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association (PHHCBA); Sheenu Sura (deputy advocate general), wife of Panchkula additional district and sessions judge; Harsh Rekha Kapoor (assistant advocate general), daughter of justice (retd) Amar Dutt.
Haryana advocate general BR Mahajan said due process has been followed and all the appointments have been made on merit.
“There was no political or any other kind of interference in appointments,” Mahajan said. While 78 lawyers have been appointed at Chandigarh office taking the number up to 148 law officers, 12 appointments have been made for Delhi office to defend state’s cases in the HC and the Supreme Court. Mahajan said that this was the final list.