CORRESPONDENT
SHILLLONG: Meghalaya Advocate General (AG) Amit Kumar on Thursday welcomed the State government's decision to take two weeks to introspect into the controversy involving the legal fraternity, saying the period should be used to establish facts and ensure that "the truth should come out".
Rejecting allegations that he had sought to undermine or favour lawyers from outside the State, Kumar said the State government's legal panel comprises 39 lawyers, all of them local and from Meghalaya.
He maintained that the controversy had been wrongly projected as a confrontation between the Bar and the Advocate General. "This press conference is not against the Bar Association or its members," he said.
Kumar said the controversy stemmed from an incident involving a senior member of the Bar and a woman intern. The matter came before the High Court on July 31 following registration of an FIR against those accused of assaulting an advocate. Petitions seeking institutional reforms were also taken up.
He said he was later informed that allegations against the particular Bar member were not an isolated incident, with records of earlier cases brought to his notice. Kumar said he accepted responsibility for strengthening safeguards for members of the Bar but denied blaming the legal fraternity.
"I said we need to introspect, I did not blame the Bar," he said, adding that his remarks had been taken out of context.
Kumar also said his continuation as Advocate General was the prerogative of the State government and Council of Ministers. He had already expressed his inability to continue amid the controversy.
Rejecting allegations that he favoured lawyers from Delhi, he pointed to the 39-member government legal panel comprising local lawyers. He added that although he established his law firm in Delhi in 2008 and could seek assistance from lawyers outside the State when required, the decision on his continuation rested with the State government.
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