Andhra Pradesh High Court stresses need for ‘strictly regulated policy’ for appointment of government advisers 

A Division Bench of the court has expressed the view that there cannot be a ‘parallel bureaucracy’, directs Advocate-General to file counter and posts the matter to February 2 for further hearing

A Division Bench of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, led by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and comprising Justice D.V.S.S. Somayajulu, has expressed the view that the government should have a strictly regulated policy for the appointment of advisers so that there is no “parallel bureaucracy.”

While hearing the writ petitions that challenged the appointment of J. Srikanth and N. Chandrasekhar Reddy as Government Advisers (Endowments and Employees’ welfare respectively) on Thursday, the Chief Justice said there “can’t be a parallel or vertical effect, and while the general pattern in other States is appointment of advisers to Ministers, which is defendable as in the case of Chhattisgarh, having advisers for departments creates a parallel system.”

The court then directed Advocate-General (A-G) S. Sriram to file a counter and posted the matter to February 2 for further hearing.

The A-G sought time for placing the entire data regarding the appointment of advisers and others in the capacities of consultants etc., and maintained that it was not a parallel system of administration, but one that had people with expertise in the respective fields, aiding in policy and decision-making in their departments.

Mr. Sriram stated that there was no firm statutory policy in this regard, but such appointments were made over the last 10 years with a definite job chart for the advisers to work in tandem with civil service.

The appointments since 2019 showed a clear link to government’s requirements and such power ought to be held as located in governance of the State.