Rohinton Nariman on govt panel since 2009

NEW DELHI: Solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam may be protesting against the denudation of dignity of law officer's office by political interference but his objection to drafting in of Rohinton Nariman appears to be without basis.

Though Subramaniam did not mention in his resignation letter to PM the objection to Nariman's appearance along with him in the 2G matter, he had a serious difference of opinion in his conversations with telecom minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday.

Sibal felt Nariman was engaged only to defend him in case the Supreme Court took up the recent affidavit accusing him of lowering penalty on Reliance Communications and that this would in no way hinder the independence and function of solicitor general in defending the government in 2G scam.

Interestingly, Nariman is not a private lawyer in the technical sense as he was nominated as one of the 13 senior advocates in the "Senior Panel" appointed by the President on October 9, 2009, for a period of three years.

The 2009 notification said these lawyers, who included 2G scam special public prosecutor U U Lalit, could be engaged by ministries and departments on case to case basis with special fees.

So, in the strict sense, Nariman's drafting into the 2G scam case, even if for defending Sibal alone, could not be a point of objection by the solicitor general.

Therefore, it appears that Subramaniam was miffed by the manner in which the dignity of law officers' was being denuded by interference from the political class.

This means, the prime minister, who is to take a call on Subramaniam's resignation on Monday, will have to devise guidelines on interaction of ministries and departments with law officers. It has to be in such a way that the independence of the constitutional office of attorney general and the solicitor general is not compromised.