The State Government has spent Rs 68 lakh towards the fees of three senior Supreme Court lawyers engaged by the Government for the Shah Commission of Inquiry probing into the large-scale mining irregularities in the State.
This was revealed by the Steel and Mines Department in a reply to an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act filed by rights activist Pradip Pradhan. While senior counsel of the Supreme Court UU lalit was paid Rs 66 lakh for his appearance before the Commission on January 12, March 1, 2 and 16 this year each appearance costing Rs 16.50 lakh, Subhransu Padhi, the lawyer attached to lalit, was paid Rs 75,000 for his appearance on January 12, February 28, March 1, 2 and 16 each appearance costing Rs 15,000.
Similarly, lawyer Sibasis Mishra was paid Rs 1.25 lakh for his appearance on January 1, February 28, March 1 and 2 this year. The Government too spent Rs 67,937 for their flight charges, food and other logistics expenses. While UU lalit was paid on February 2 and March 15, Mishra and Padhi were paid on February 28 and April 15 this year.