LUCKNOW, Oct. 6 -- The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Monday delivered an important verdict in a case challenging the appointment (engagement) process of government lawyers in the Allahabad high court and its Lucknow bench. The court said the state government should adopt a fair and transparent process in the posting of government lawyers in the HC. For this, it issued eight important guidelines. The division bench of justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Rajeev Bharti delivered this verdict on Monday while disposing of two other petitions, including a PIL filed by Mahendra Singh Pawar, in the case in 2017. However, the verdict had not been uploaded yet. State government chief standing counsel (CSC) Shailendra Kumar Singh said the court, in its guidelines for the appointment of government lawyers through a fair and transparent process, stated that only good lawyers should be appointed as state government lawyers. The representation of women lawyers as government lawyers should be determined based on availability. The state government can formulate a policy on whether a government lawyer can contest Bar Association elections, it stated. The court also stated that if an FIR is filed against a government lawyer, a copy of it will be immediately provided to the advocate general. The court directed the government to exclude lawyers with criminal backgrounds from the selection process for government lawyers. It clarified that the Brijeshwar Singh Chahal decision, which prohibits lawyers with political connections from being appointed as government lawyers, does not apply in Uttar Pradesh, the CSC told. The petitioners had argued for the appointment of government lawyers without political interference. Previously, the HC had reserved its judgement after the hearing concluded on July 6, 2026. Advocate general Ajay Kumar Mishra argued on behalf of the state government. The petitioners questioned the process of deploying government lawyers to represent the cases in the high court. The case challenged the posting process of government lawyers deployed by the state government to appear in the HC from time to time since 2017. MANOJ KUMAR SINGH...