Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday dismissed the controversy over the appointment of government pleaders saying that the appointments were made in consultation with the Advocate General (AG) and after assessing the competence of the candidates.

He said the two names that were at the centre of the row over SFI and ABVP links were among the names recommended by both the Kerala committee and the High Court unit of the Indian Lawyers’ Congress. The Chief Minister also added that no complaints regarding the appointments had come before him.

“The allegation was that one of them was an SFI member during his college says, and that the other was an ABVP member when in college. Media reports said the Congress-backed Indian Lawyers Congress had complained about this. No one has complained to me,” the Chief Minister said. “However, the appointments were not made solely on the recommendation of the Congress’s feeder organisation, but in consultation with the AG and after assessing their competence,” he said.

The Chief Minister also swept aside CPI(M) leader and former Industries and Law Minister P. Rajeeve’s allegation that the UDF had increased the number of government pleaders. Mr. Satheesan countered the charge saying that the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government had appointed 16 government pleaders during the 10 years it was in power.

On July 17, 2017, the LDF government had appointed five special government pleaders and five government pleaders. Later, during the 2021-2026 LDF government when Mr. Rajeeve was Law Minister, the LDF government had appointed three special government pleaders and three government pleaders, Mr. Satheesan said.

The Chief Minister said the UDF government “has now actually restricted the number to 12”, although the recommendation by the AG and the Director General of Prosecution was to appoint 23, given the number of petitions pending in the court.

Published - July 15, 2026 12:54 pm IST