Damodaran not keen on Legal Advisor post: Ker Govt tells HC

Eminent lawyer M K Damodaran will not assume charge as the Legal Advisor of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as he did not want to accept the post, the government today informed the Kerala High Court.
The order appointing Damodaran as the Legal Advisor was issued on June 9, but the lawyer has informed the government that he does not intend to assume charge, state Additional Advocate General K K Ravindranath told the court.
He made the submission before a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan and Anu Sivaraman during the hearing of a petition by BJP state President Kummanam Rajasekharan challenging the appointment of Damodaran as the Legal Advisor to the Chief Minister when an Advocate General had also been appointed.

The bench orally questioned what was wrong in appointing a particular person as advisor. "If the Chief Minister reposes confidence on the particular person, it is the client's confidence (in the person)," it said.
The court then posted the matter to July 21 for further hearing.
In his petition, Rajasekharan alleged hidden agenda in the appointment of Damodaran as the Legal Advisor.
Contending that Damodran's appointment was illegal, he said the senior lawyer was appearing for opposite parties in cases against the government, especially for the accused in criminal matters.