Report No. 19
16. Section 3.-
The qualifications for the appointment of Administrator-General require to be changed. The mention of Barristers as a separate class has become out of date. Section 3(2) (a) may, therefore, be deleted.
Under section 3(2)(b), no qualification is imposed under the Act as to the standing of the Advocates, Attorneys, etc. This may have been due to the paucity, at the time of passing the Act, of persons of any standing willing to take up the post. Conditions have changed now. In keeping with the nature of the functions of the Administrator-General, we recommend that a minimum of seven years' standing should be prescribed. The reference to vakils may be deleted.
Section 3(2) (c) has become superfluous, as it refers only to persons holding the office of Deputy at the commencement of the Act. We are of the opinion that it is unfair to exclude altogether Deputies from the categories of persons eligible for appointment as Administrators-General. As the Deputy can and does sometimes perform the functions of the Administrator-General, we consider it reasonable to provide that a person who has worked for a specified period as a Deputy should be eligible for appointment as an Administrator-General.
We need hardly add that in the case of persons appointed as Deputies in accordance with the qualifications recommended by us the case is much stronger. We recommend that sub-clause (c) of section 3 (2) may be deleted and in its place a provision may be introduced to the effect that a person who has worked as a Deputy for a , period of five years shall be eligible for appointment as an Administrator-Genera1.1
Under section 3(2) (d), a person already in the service of the Government may be appointed as Administrator-General in a State other than West Bengal, Madras or Bombay. This provision was. made on the ground that it would be difficult to get persons with legal qualifications in thoSe States. Whatever may have been the position in 1913, the reason cannot hold good now. We therefore recommend that the clause may be deleted.
A fruitful source of recruitment for filling up the post of Administrator-General is the State judiciary. We recommend that a person who has for at least ten years been a member of the judicial service of State may also be made eligible for appointment as an Administrator-General.2
1. This will apply to present incumbents also.
2. We have made a similar recommendation regarding the office of Official Trustee in our Report on the Official Trustees Act-16th Report.
Back
