AGARTALA, Oct 17 (TIWN): Law department Secretary, D. M. Mohan tenure ends this month. Under this circumstance hectic parleys are going on in the state government who will be the next law secretary. The front runner for the post is additional session and district court judge SB Datta.The state government is seriously pondering about his name as the next law secretary. But the government is in dilemma for not finding any body loyal like Jamatia. For time being the government wants Datta as the next law secretary. Even though he is additional session court judge but he is senior grade – I judicial officer. Than there is no objection in having Datta as law secretary, but to become high court justice he should have experience of district and session court judge. There was discussion on number of names,but the state government could not find any reliable one for the post. Then the name of Datta was selected informally, but it’s just a matter of when his name will be declared officially. It may be recalled here that the state government was embroiled in a direct tussle with Tripura High Court over transfer of Law secretary D M Jamatia.Jamatia had been transferred on July 15, last and Chief Secretary Y P Singh was asked by the High Court to make arrangement to release him from the post of Law secretary so that he can join as the district and sessions judge in Unokoti on August 3.But in two separate letters to the High Court, Law Minister Tapan Chakraborty and the chief secretary expressed their inability to release Jamatia now.The Minister, in a letter to the High Court on July 20, expressed the state government's inability to relieve Jamatia from his responsibilities as law secretary.

He said Jamatia has been looking after the state government's appeal to the Supreme Court against the high court's en masse dismissal of 10,323 teachers by an order on May 7 last year.

Besides, Jamatias service as law secretary was urgently required by the state government in smoothly conducting elections to urban local bodies this December and the statewide elections to 527 Village Committees under the ADC in March next year.

According to the report, the state government had illegally been funding Jamatia for fighting his contempt case both in the high court and the apex court.

The state government had already paid more than Rs 2 crore as advocate fees and other cost of litigation from the public exchequer.

Law department officials stated that as per law and direction of the apex court, the state cannot assist or aid defending any criminal contemptor.