Uttarakhand Appoints Gaurav Bhatia as Senior AAG for Supreme Court Cases

A notification has been issued on March 18, reading, 'Based on the recommendation of the Screening Committee constituted by the Government for empanelment of law officers, the Governor is pleased to approve the empanelment of advocates for representing the State of Uttarakhand before the Supreme Court, New Delhi, against the posts mentioned against their names, until further orders.'

As per the notification, Advocates Keshav Ranjan, Adarsh Chamoli, and Snehjeet Kaur have been appointed as Advocate-on-Record-cum-Standing Counsel in the Supreme Court. Advocate Vinayak Mishra has been appointed as Panel Advocate for the Supreme Court.

Further, based on the recommendation of the Screening Committee, the following advocates are also approved for empanelment to represent the State of Uttarakhand in the National Green Tribunal (NGT), New Delhi, until further orders.

In addition, Gaurav Bhatia, Senior Advocate, is appointed as Senior Additional Advocate General, in place of Additional Advocate General, for the Supreme Court, as per the notification read.

Advocate Adhiraj Bali and Abhay Pratap have been appointed as Panel Advocates for the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

It is said that this empanelment is purely a professional engagement, not a civil post. The State Government may terminate this engagement at any time without prior notice or assigning reasons. The advocate may also resign by giving written notice.

It is further said that during the period of empanelment, the advocate shall "not accept any case or give legal advice against the State Government of Uttarakhand and must strictly follow legal guidelines of the government of Uttarakhand.

The empanelled advocate shall ensure strong and well-prepared representation of the State Government and submit monthly work reports by the 7th of the following month to the Principal Secretary, Justice & Law Department, Government of Uttarakhand, the notification said.

- ANI