Delhi Prisons have started recruitment for 14 contractual law officer posts after receiving a notice from the High Court. The vacancies were announced by the Office of the Director General of Prisons following court directions.
Following a notice from the Delhi High Court to the Director General of Prisons, Tihar, and the Home Secretary of Delhi, the Office of the Director General of Prisons announced applications for 14 law officer positions on a contractual basis.
The advertisement, dated April 26, 2025, sets a seven-day application deadline from the publication date.
This development stems from the Delhi High Court’s April 17, 2025, notice in response to a petition by Advocate Amit Sahni, a social activist, who is seeking to revive a contempt case related to the termination of 14 ad-hoc law officers.
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These officers initially appointed following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Sahni.
Justice Vikas Mahajan’s bench issued notices to the Home Secretary of Delhi and the Director General of Prisons, scheduling a hearing for May 9, 2025.
The petition contends that terminating the law officers’ services without creating permanent positions constitutes contempt of court.
In September 2019, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court, ruling on Sahni’s petition, directed the respondents to complete the appointment process for law officers in Delhi prisons within 12 weeks of receiving the order.
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The plea asserts that these directives were not followed within the specified timeframe, leading Sahni to file a contempt petition for non-compliance. Subsequently, the respondents informed the court that 16 law officers had been appointed on an ad-hoc basis, resulting in the closure of the contempt petition on December 21, 2021.
The petitioner now argues that more than five years since the 2019 order and over three years since the dismissal of the contempt petition, no steps have been taken to establish regular law officer positions.
Furthermore, the plea highlights that even the temporary ad-hoc appointments of law graduates performing law officer duties were abruptly terminated on April 2, 2025, by the Office of the Director General (Prisons), Government of NCT of Delhi.
Sahni argues that this action constitutes wilful disobedience of the court’s directives.
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The petition also emphasizes that the Delhi Prisons Act, 2000, mandates a designated law officer for every prison.
However, Delhi currently has only one law officer overseeing all 16 jails, stationed at the Tihar prison headquarters. It was also noted that between August 2016 and February 2019, no law officer was appointed at the prison headquarters.
Section 6 of the Delhi Prisons Act, 2000, stipulates that every prison must have a superintendent, a deputy superintendent, a medical officer, a law officer, a welfare officer, and other essential personnel as deemed necessary by the government.
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