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2014 DIGILAW 2450 (MAD)

M. J. Salahudeen v. State of Tamil Nadu

2014-08-07

S.VAIDYANATHAN

body2014
Judgment : 1. According to the petitioner, during the period between August 2006 and July 2011, he was appointed as Additional Government Pleader and he has conducted several cases on behalf of the Government of Tamil Nadu. The case of the petitioner is that the fee bills raised by him was not yet settled by the Government. 2. The respondents have not disputed the fact that the fee is due to the petitioner. According to them, already in many cases fee has been paid and in some cases, portion of the money has yet to be paid. 3. The petitioner insisted that he is entitled to the interest and, in this regard, he relied on a judgment of this Court reported in 2012 (2)CTC 405 (K.V.Venkatapathi(deceased) v. Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board) wherein, paras 17 and 18 are as under:- ''17. Regarding the claim for interest, the interest rate during the year 2008 was on the higher side. Taking note of the said fact, 12% p.a., interest was ordered in the said Writ Petitions. The rate of interest now is about 9% p.a. Hence, this Writ Petition is ordered by giving direction to the First Respondent to settle the pending bills submitted by the Petitioners with interest after expiry of six months from the date of submission of bills with interest at 9% p.a. While calculating the amount payable, the amount already paid to each of the Petitioners shall be credited and interest for the belated payment and the Petitioners within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of copy of this order. 18. Before parting with this case, I am constrained to state as follows:- During the course of the hearing of this Writ Petition it was informed by the Members of the Bar that the Government and its instrumentalities are not paying the bill amounts to the former Advocate Generals, Additional Advocate Generals, Special Government Pleaders, Government Pleaders, Government Advocates and Standing Counsels promptly and even after expiry of their terms. Number of Writ Petitions are filed by former Law Officers. The authorities of the Government and Public Sector Undertakings are duty bound to keep in mind that it is not proper to force the learned Advocates to file Writ Petitions for the sanction of their legal fees after availing their professional service/work with satisfaction. Number of Writ Petitions are filed by former Law Officers. The authorities of the Government and Public Sector Undertakings are duty bound to keep in mind that it is not proper to force the learned Advocates to file Writ Petitions for the sanction of their legal fees after availing their professional service/work with satisfaction. Forcing the learned Counsels, who are Officers of the Court to stand as litigants is regrettable. The concerned officers of the Government and Public Sector Undertakings are to be reminded by the Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu to settle the legal fee payable to all the Advocates so as to avoid unwanted litigations of this nature before this Court. The registry is directed to mark a copy of this order to the Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, Chennai-600 009.'' 4. Taking note of the submissions, the concerned official of the Government in the Public Sector Undertakings are directed to remind the Chief Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu to settle the fee payable to the petitioner, at the earliest to avoid unnecessary further litigations. 5. Taking note of the submission made on the side of the petitioner and the respondents, this Court feels it appreciate to direct the respondents to consider and make payment of fee bills submitted by the petitioner along with his representation dated 11.10.2011, if the fee has been raised according to the fee structure prescribed by the Government. Accordingly, the respondents are directed to take action based on the representation dated 11.10.2011 of the petitioner within three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. 6. The Registry is directed to mark the copy of this order to the Chief Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu and the 3rd respondent to enable them to process the payment of the fee payable to the petitioner. The petitioner is also directed to forward a fresh copy of the fee bill enclosing with a copy of this order to the Chief Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu and the 3rd respondent. 7. This Writ Petition is ordered on the above directions and observations. No costs.