Decision on new Attorney General soon: Ravi Shankar Prasad

NEW DELHI: Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said the government has taken note of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi’s letter expressing unwillingness to continue as the country’s top law officer.

Addressing the media about achievements of his ministry in the past three years, Prasad said that Rohatgi has desired not to continue owing to pressing personal reasons which the government “respects.”

He added that Rohatgi has remained a “distinguished” Attorney General who has “served with great distinction”. Prasad said that the appointment of the new Attorney General is being considered at the highest level and a decision will soon be taken in this regard. When asked about the revised Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), a guideline for selection of high court judges, Prasad only said “it is a work in progress”.

He appreciated the effort put in by noted lawyer Harish Salve in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case of execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav. When asked about the law ministry’s participation in the entire case, Prasad said it was a “team effort” as the law, finance and the ministry of external affairs (MEA) worked together.

Commenting on the steps taken to tackle instances of cybercrime, Prasad said a cyber-coordination centre has been set up and a committee has been set up to provide effective safeguards against cybercrime.

As regards pending cases, Prasad said that he has decided to take up the matter with all the chief justices in the country. The minister said he will write to all the chief justices urging them to expedite disposal of cases pending for more than a decade. Also, he will urge the chief justices to conduct “physical verification” of pending cases in order to ascertain the “actual” number of cases hanging fire.

Sharing achievements of the law ministry since the Modi government came to power, Prasad said a record number of Judges have been appointed in the past three years. A total of 17 SC judges, 126 High Court judges and 224 additional judges were confirmed in the past three years. Also, the sanctioned strength of judges of high courts was increased from 906 in May 2014 to 1,079. He listed increase in the judicial officers of district and subordinate courts; digitisation of courts to improve justice delivery; etc.