17 new Law Officers appointed to represent Tamil Nadu government before Madras High Court

Seventeen new law officers have been appointed to represent the recently elected Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government before the Madras High Court at Chennai and its Bench at Madurai. .The notification issued on May 13 stated that these law officers have been appointed temporarily until law officers can be appointed under the Law Officers of High Court of Madras and its Bench at Madurai (Appointment) Rules 2017. .The following law officers are the lawyers appointed to represent the State:.Government counsel appointed on civil side, to appear before Chennai Bench of Madras High Court"Advocate P MuthukumarAdvocate R NeelakandanAdvocate C HarshaAdvocate S John J Raja SinghAdvocate A Shabnam Banu.Government counsel appointed on criminal side, to appear before Chennai Bench of Madras High Court"Advocate A DhamodharanAdvocate R MuniyapparajAdvocate JC DurairajAdvocate E Raj ThilakAdvocate L BaskaranAdvocate A Gopinath.Government counsel appointed on civil side, to appear before Madurai Bench of Madras High Court"Senior Advocate Veera KathiravanAdvocate P Thilak KumarAdvocate R BaskaranAdvocate AK Manikkam.Government counsel appointed on criminal side, to appear before Madurai Bench of Madras High Court"Advocate S RaviAdvocate M Muthu Manikkam.Earlier this month, Senior Advocate R Shanmugasundaram was appointed as the Advocate General of Tamil Nadu. .As per TOI report, the time-consuming processes detailed in a 2017 GO, as amended in 2019, had contributed to a delay in the appointment of new law officers after the change in government. .Law officers representing the earlier AIADMK-led government had resigned after the new regime led by the DMK party came to power. However, the amended 2017 GO is stated to have created roadblocks to the regular appointment of law officers during the government transition.