New Delhi: In a first in Kerala's recent history, the state government has appointed a special government pleader in the High Court exclusively to handle cases related to the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development departments.

Senior Government Pleader P.P. Padmalayan has been given charge of cases concerning the two departments. Padmalayan had earlier served as a government pleader during the previous UDF government's tenure.

According to government sources who interacted with mathtubhumi.com, the appointment is citing the growing number of High Court cases involving the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development departments. The departments had not previously been assigned dedicated special government pleaders, as they were considered relatively less significant compared with other portfolios.

The government, however, has not appointed special government pleaders for key departments such as Agriculture, Health, Sports and Higher Education, continuing the approach followed by the previous government.

The decision has also drawn criticism. Some argue that increasing the number of special government pleader posts has resulted in senior advocates being assigned full-time responsibility for departments viewed as less significant, merely to accommodate the additional positions.

During the previous Pinarayi Vijayan government, the Finance Department had rejected proposals to appoint special government pleaders for the Devaswom, Labour and Higher Education departments. This time, however, the government has assigned dedicated special government pleaders for Labour and Devaswom-related cases.

Arun Chandran has been appointed special government pleader for the Cooperation Department. He is regarded as a close associate of KC Venugopal and M Liju. Reports had earlier suggested that Chief Minister and his trusted legal advisers in the High Court had strongly opposed his appointment.

The government issued the order allocating responsibilities to special government pleaders last day.

The assignments are as follows: Rama R (AG's Office), Rashmi G Nair (AG's Office), PM Saneer (AAG's Office), Raju Sebastian Vadakkekara (AAG's Office), C Rasheed (DGP/SPP's Office), Soyoos PK (Revenue), Sherry J Thomas (Revenue), Rajeshwari (SC/ST), Shyson P Manguzha (Irrigation), MK Aboobacker (Local Self-Government), K Sunitha Vinod (Land Acquisition), Ranjith A (Arbitration and Civil Law), CR Shyamkumar (Forest), DP Renu (Motor Vehicles), PK Sajeevan (Vigilance), PK Santhamma (SC/ST), Sreelatha Parameswaran (cases involving crimes against women and children), Muhamood TT (General Education), Sudheesh Kumar S (Taxes), Arun Chandran (Cooperation), TK Devarajan (Criminal), PP Padmalayan (Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development), and KR Sunil (Devaswom).