Patna High Court lawyer Dinesh Kumar on Thursday described the government response on appointment of law officers as "outlandish" and appealed to it to reject it.

Dinesh had challenged the appointment of five law officers on the ground that it happened without consultating the high court, as stipulated in the court's November 17 ruling. Dinesh first filed a writ petition and then a contempt petition against the "unlawful" appointment of law officers. Responding to his plea, the court asked the government to file an affidavit on the issue.

Government representatives - chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh and law secretary Surendra Prasad Sharma - filed their response, known as show-cause in legal parlance - saying the government was not aware of the high court ruling vis-a-vis officers' appointment.

On Thursday Dinesh pleaded before chief justice Rajendra Menon and justice Sudhir Singh saying: "Ignorance can never be pleaded as a defence or excuse, more so in cases like this". He pleaded before the court to reject the government's response as it was based on "outlandish and illogical interpretation of law which cannot be accepted in court".

Dinesh also questioned advocate general Rambalak Mahto's role. "The advocate general is a link between the government and court," Dinesh said. "How it happened that the advocate general did not explain about the high court's ruling with regard to appointment of law officers to the government?"

The high court has fixed April 10 as the next date of hearing. The government had appointed the law officers on December 6, 2016.

Dinesh later moved the high court challenging the appointment.