Madurai: Invoking a teaching of Prophet Muhammad regarding the prompt payment of wages, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Madurai Corporation to settle the long-pending professional fees of its former standing counsel.
Justice G.R. Swaminathan, in an order pronounced on December 19, criticized the civic body for delaying the payments and emphasized the principle of fairness in labour jurisprudence.
Ruling on a petition filed by P. Thirumalai, who served as the standing counsel for the Madurai City Municipal Corporation between 1992 and 2006, Justice Swaminathan cited the famous instruction attributed to the Prophet: “Pay the worker before his sweat dries.”
“This principle is only a facet of fairness and is eminently applicable in labour jurisprudence. It can also be invoked in the case at hand,” the judge observed while directing the corporation to clear the dues.
The court took a strong view of the financial mismanagement regarding legal expenses. Justice Swaminathan censured the practice of public bodies claiming financial distress when paying retired staff or regular counsel, while simultaneously engaging senior advocates at exorbitant rates.
He cited instances where senior counsel were paid as much as Rs 4 lakh per appearance. “The university, which is pleading that its financial situation is such that it is unable to pay the dues of its retired staff, has no difficulty in paying exorbitant fees to its counsel,” he noted, drawing a parallel to the corporation's conduct.
The judge further observed that Additional Advocate Generals often appeared for minor matters that a “novice government counsel” could handle. “All this for a few pennies. Marking appearance is a matter of money. It is time an audit is undertaken regarding the payment of fees to the law officers,” Justice Swaminathan stated.
The petitioner, P. Thirumalai, represented the corporation in 818 cases over 14 years. He submitted that the total fee payable was Rs 14.07 lakh, of which only Rs 1.02 lakh had been settled, leaving an outstanding balance of Rs 13.05 lakh.
The court recorded that the lawyer is currently in penurious circumstances and cannot even afford the cost of obtaining certified copies of the judgments to prove his claims.
To resolve the impasse, the court directed the Legal Services Authority attached to the Madurai District Court to verify the list of cases, obtain the necessary certified copies, and provide them to the petitioner within two months.
Following the submission of the verified fee bills, the Madurai Corporation has been directed to settle the outstanding amount within a further period of two months, without interest.
(Inputs from PTI)