The State Government had to pay a staggering Rs 68.68 lakh towards engaging advocates for appearing before the Justice Shah Commission of Enquiry in the multi-crore mining scam in the State.
According to official sources, on the request of the Steel and Mines Department, the law Department had requisitioned the services of senior Supreme Court advocate UU lalit, Sibasis Mishra and Subhrasnsu Padhi, besides the State’s Advocate General Asok Mohanty to appear before the Justice Shah Panel at Ahmadabad and Bhubaneswar during the course of the hearing on different dates.
The advocates were engaged to defend and protect the interest of the State. The Advocate General had drawn a total sum of Rs 9 lakh towards appearance fee at the rate of Rs 1 lakh per day during the period from January 12 last to April 21 and Rs 1, 97, 877 towards Traveling Allowance, which included hotel accommodation, it said.
The State Government had spent Rs 67,937 towards to and fro place fare, hotel accommodation and conveyance, etc for Supreme Court senior counsel lalit, lawyer Mishra and junior lawyer Padhi.
Sources said that lalit’s took Rs 16.50 lakh per appearance. He had appeared before the Shah Commission on January 12, March1 and 16 last and was paid Rs 66 lakh.
Mishra was paid Rs 1.25 lakh for appearance on January 1, February 28, March1, 2 and 16 last at the rate of Rs 25,000 per appearance.
Similarly, Padhi was paid Rs 75,000 for appearance on January 12, February 2, March 1, 2 and 16 last at the rate of Rs 15,000 per appearance.