Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday made critical comments against the practice of appointing advisers for the state government. It said this was not a good tradition.
The High Court was hearing a petition filed by AP Seva Brahmana Sangha Samakhya spokesperson H.K. Rajasekhar Rao, challenging the appointment of advisers to the endowments department and on employees’ affairs.
The High Court also pulled up the petitioner for bringing political matters to the judiciary for its intervention. In an attempt to discourage this tendency, the High Court warned of taking severe action if petitions were filed on political matters.
Defending the state government, Advocate-General S. Sriram told the High Court that only experienced persons were appointed as advisers to the government. He said the government would elicit expert opinion before taking a decision on appointment of advisers. “This is not a new practice,” the A-G stressed.
Advocate R.N. Hemendranath Reddy appearing on behalf of another adviser Chandrasekhar Reddy informed the court that his client “does not have any information” about the case and he came to know about the case via the media. He said that no notices were served regarding the case and argued that the case was politically motivated.
However, the court expressed its displeasure and questioned the A-G as to how a government adviser could decide on matters like the TA and DA of employees. It maintained that the appointment of advisers was not a good tradition.
Notably, the government led by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has, in the past, appointed Jwalapurapu Srikanth as adviser to the endowments department and Chandrasekhar Reddy as adviser to the government on employee issues.
