Law Min to accept “lateral hires” for post of Legal Secretary

The country’s Ministry of Law & Justice has recently published a call for applications for the post of Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs. The position is open to district judges, as well as lawyers with a minimum of twenty-five years of experience, be it in litigation or as in-house counsel..As reported here, this post has traditionally been occupied by members of the Indian Legal Services, although there have been instances of judges occupying this position as well. For instance, AM Ahmadi, who went on to become the Chief Justice of India, was Legal Secretary for the Gujarat government. Another former judge of the Supreme Court, SN Phukan, was Law Secretary for Meghalaya..What is interesting about this development is that it is open to lawyers from the private sector. Of course, it is not the first time that the government has sought out talent from the private sector. In September of 2014, McKinsey India chairman Adil Zainulbhai was appointed as the chief of the Quality Council of India. Earlier this year, Parameswaran Iyer an ex-World Bank hand, was appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Drinking and Water Sanitation..With the current Law Secretary PK Malhotra due to retire on April 21, it will be interesting to see who takes his place..A copy of the advertisement inviting applications is provided below:.HT to @AmlanMohanty for the tip