The Hindu : Row over a debate that did not take place

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 30, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Row over a debate that did not take place

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM May 29. News reports about a Cabinet discussion on appointment of Government Pleaders have created heartburning among Ministers.

The reason for the heartburning is that such a discussion did not take place, even though the item was listed on the agenda for the day. The news reports, carried by some of the language dailies, related to the division in the Cabinet over the appointment of 12 Government Pleaders on the basis of the advice of the Advocate General. The Revenue Minister, K.M. Mani, promptly issued a denial stating that no such discussion was held at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. "The item had been deferred to the next Cabinet meeting owing to lack of time. The appointments were neither taken up for discussions nor was there a division among Ministers,'' he said.

Mr. Mani also denied that there were moves to appoint Government Pleaders outside the list submitted by the Advocate General. The Cabinet would clear the appointment on the basis of joint evaluation of the qualification of those included in the list. The Cabinet would take a transparent and just decision on this issue as per convention, he added.

The Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, also stated that the matter was not taken up for discussions and had in fact been deferred to the next Cabinet meeting. What apparently exercised the Chief Minister's mind was the mischievousness behind such a "news leak'' and the motives behind it.

At the start of his tenure, the Chief Minister had to face an embarrassing situation when Cabinet papers relating to minority status of professional institutions were leaked out. It is a different matter that the inquiry relating to the leak, which came in for some hard comments from the High Court, did not reach anywhere.

Mr. Mani drew the attention of the Chief Minister to the misleading reports and registered his strong protest. The misleading news item would not have been planted without the knowledge of some of the Cabinet Ministers, he reportedly told the Chief Minister.

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