Quoting Prophet Mohammed’s famous statement regarding immediate payment on completion of work, Judge GR Swaminathan has directed the Madurai Municipal Corporation to pay the outstanding fees of its former lawyer. Madurai Bench Judge Swaminathan strongly condemned the practice of appointing lawyers who charge huge fees for a single appearance in the court.
He cited a case in which a senior lawyer was paid Rs 4 lakh per appearance. He said that the university, which is arguing that its financial condition is such that it is unable to pay the dues of its retired employees, then how is it paying such high fees to its lawyers.
According to PTI report, he remarked that the Additional Advocate General appears even in those minor cases where his presence is not really required and which can be handled even by a person inexperienced as a government lawyer. All this happens for money. He said that the time has come to conduct an audit regarding the fees paid to law officers.
Former permanent counsel of the corporation had filed the petition
Former Municipal Corporation standing counsel P. Thirumalai had sought direction to Madurai Corporation to pay the fees of Rs 13.05 lakh for representing the Municipal Corporation in several cases. Judge Swaminathan said in his order dated December 19, ‘Give the employee the fruits of his hard work even before his sweat dries.’ This instruction is related to Prophet Mohammad.
what is the whole matter
The petitioner was the standing counsel for Madurai Municipal Corporation for more than 14 years from 1992 to 2006. He represented the Corporation in Madurai District Courts. His complaint was that the corporation did not pay his fees. So he filed a petition in 2006 demanding payment. According to the petitioner, the corporation was supposed to pay him Rs 14.07 lakh, but it has paid only Rs 1.02 lakh and Rs 13.05 lakh is still outstanding. The petitioners appeared in 818 cases and their financial condition was poor.
Keeping all these things in mind, the court directed the Legal Services Authority attached to Madurai District Court to verify the list of cases, obtain certified copies and provide it to the petitioner within two months. The corporation has been directed to pay the bills within the next two months without interest.
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