Chief attorneys have no office or work and are not even paid

Setopati

2018-04-25 17:30:14

Chief attorneys of provincial governments are facing problems in lack of relevant laws and contradictory constitutional provisions. The constitution says chief attorney will be subordinate to the attorney general but they are completely cut off from the Office of the Attorney General in practice. The chief attorney acts as the legal advisors to the provincial government concerned, according to the constitution. The chief attorney also defends the provincial government in litigations against it. But they have no role in prosecutions inside the province handled by the district attorney offices and high attorney offices which come under the Office of the Attorney General. Attorney General Agni Kharel, who was Constituent Assembly member and actively involved in drafting of the constitution, said the Office of the Attorney General has been kept centralized as the judiciary is also centralized despite the country going into federalism. "Public prosecutions have been kept under the Office of the Attorney General also because criminal law comes under the federal law," Kharel stated. Chief attorneys have not been given prosecution rights as the provincial governments may have different positions on some cases, according to an officer at the Law Ministry. The provincial government, for example, may decide that those involved in Tikapur incident need not be prosecuted while the central government may think they have to be prosecuted or vice versa. Attorney General Kharel reasoned that the chief attorney and attorney general are also independent of each other in practice as the former has to defend the provincial government and the latter the central government if there is any case pitting the central and provincial governments against each other. "The chief attorney will have problem in defending provincial government in cases against the central government if kept under the attorney general. They have, therefore, been kept separate," he explained. Chief attorneys are now suffering problems also in lack of related provincial laws. The constitution says chief attorneys should be paid on par with a High Court judge but they are not being paid due to lack of relevant provincial laws. All seven chief attorneys have not been paid since their appointment. They do not even know who will pay them. "Salary will come in time, but we don't know what works we have to do and from where we will work," Chief Attorney of Province 3 Surya Chandra Neupane said. Deependra Jha was appointed chief attorney of Province 2 three months back but he does not have an office. "I work from my laptop. I work from an empty space in any room inside the Office of the Chief Minister. Attorney General Kharel said things will improve once the provinces bring laws about duties, powers, perks and benefits, and office of the chief attorney. "There is confusion now in the beginning. It will gradually get clearer once the laws are drafted," he assured. "The provincial governments will provide perks and benefits and budget for them and their offices."

Published Date: 2018-04-25 17:30:14

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