The Delhi High Court recently issued notice to the Delhi government on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging a notification allowing the recruitment of additional public prosecutors (APPs) through deputation and short-term contractual engagement from outside the regular prosecutorial cadre [Shipra Mishra v. Govt of NCT of Delhi].
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said that the reply should be filed in two weeks.
The Court will hear the matter next on November 4.
The petition, filed by Advocate Shipra Mishra, challenges the notification dated April 2, 2026, which provides for filling APP posts through 85% promotion and 15% deputation/contractual engagement.
Mishra argues that the 15% quota violates Section 18(6) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.
According to the plea, Section 18(6) requires public prosecutors and APPs to be appointed from the regular prosecuting officers' cadre - where such a cadre exists - except when suitable candidates are unavailable.
The petitioner claims that Delhi has a functional prosecutorial cadre comprising eligible APPs and that the notification does not record any finding that suitable cadre officers are unavailable. Therefore, it alleged that the notification creates a parallel route of entry into the prosecutorial service.
"The impugned action is further arbitrary, unreasonable, and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India," the plea states.
It adds that the device of “short-term contractual engagement” is a mechanism to circumvent the legislative mandate embodied in Section 18(6) BNSS.
"The arbitrary induction of deputationists unfamiliar with local court practices and prosecutorial procedures is likely to result in inefficiency, delay, and procedural irregularities, thereby prejudicing the rights of victims and eroding public confidence in the justice," the plea adds.
Advocates Dr Hemant Gupta, Rony John and Akash Aggarwal appeared for the petitioner.
Advocates Avnish Ahlawat, Tania Ahlawat, Nitesh Kumar Singh, Aliza Alam and Mohnish Sehrawat represented the Delhi government.
[Read Order]