HC Judge cites Prophet Muhammad’s teaching, orders Madurai corporation to clear former lawyer’s dues

Madurai: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Madurai City Municipal Corporation to clear the long-pending professional fees of its former standing counsel, with Justice G R Swaminathan invoking a well-known saying of Prophet Muhammad emphasising timely and fair payment for work done.

In an order passed on December 19, Justice Swaminathan referred to the principle, “Pay the worker before his sweat dries,” attributed to the Holy Prophet, and observed that the idea reflects basic fairness. He noted that while the concept is often applied in labour jurisprudence, it was equally relevant in the present case.

The judge came down heavily on the practice of engaging senior advocates at exorbitant fees, pointing out that in some instances, lawyers were paid as much as Rs 4 lakh for a single court appearance. He remarked that institutions citing financial constraints in meeting obligations to employees or retirees appeared to have no difficulty in paying hefty amounts to legal counsel.

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Justice Swaminathan also questioned the routine appearance of Additional Advocate Generals even in minor matters that could be handled by junior government lawyers. “Marking appearance has become a matter of money. It is time there is an audit of payments made to law officers,” he observed.

The court was hearing a petition filed by P Thirumalai, former standing counsel of the Madurai Corporation, who served the civic body for over 14 years between 1992 and 2006 and represented it in district courts. Thirumalai approached the High Court in 2006, alleging that his professional fee bills had not been settled.

According to the petitioner, the corporation owed him Rs 14.07 lakh for legal services rendered in 818 cases, but had paid only Rs 1.02 lakh, leaving an outstanding amount of Rs 13.05 lakh. The court recorded submissions that the lawyer was facing financial hardship and was unable even to bear the expenses required for obtaining certified copies of case records.

Taking note of these circumstances, the court directed the Legal Services Authority attached to the Madurai district court to verify the list of cases handled by the petitioner and to arrange certified copies within two months. Once the verified fee bills are submitted, the Madurai Corporation has been instructed to clear the dues within a further two months, without any interest.

(with inputs from agencies)