Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, April 27: The state government, in its bid to expedite the management of government cases in the Supreme Court, has appointed three more lawyers as Advocates-on-Record in New Delhi.
A notification released by the law department Monday said Abhist Kumar, Milind Kumar and Sharmila Upadhyaya have been appointed as the legal representatives.
With this, the total number of advocates on record appointed by the state government has reached seven in the apex court. These advocates will be in charge of representing the state government in the apex court.
Sibashis Mishra, Kirtirenu Mishra, Shiv Shankar Mishra and Ashok Panigrahi are the four other advocates who have been appointed by the state government in the SC.
Sources said the Chief Minister had approved proposals for the appointment of five more Advocates-on-Record for the Supreme Court and the formation of a special lawyers’ panel for national tribunals and a senior advocate panel for the apex court.
Sources said the move comes on the heels of a directive from the CM to the law department to expedite the process of these appointments for the smooth management of legal issues pertaining to the state.
The state government had decided April 16 to post a legal officer at the Resident Commissioner’s office in New Delhi for the smooth management of government cases in the Supreme Court, national tribunals and the Delhi High Court.
A working or retired senior officer of the Orissa Legal Services or an officer in the rank of additional secretary would be inducted in the Litigation Management System Cell of the Resident Commissioner’s office to deal with cases on behalf of the state government.
Sources said the Advocate-on-Record and the legal officer would coordinate with each other in legal issues at the apex level. The primary duty of the legal officer would be to look into government documents and cases in court, while Advocate-on-Record would inform the officer about the status and progress of each case.