Bizzare but true!! A lawyer had to knock the doors of the Supreme Court to seek a direction to his client, the Rajasthan Government, to clear his bills totalling Rs 48 lakh pending since 1994.
A bench of Justics N V Ramana and S Abdul Nazeer came to his aid and directed the State Government to pay Rs 48.01 lakh to lawyer Aruneshwar Gupta within four weeks.
The top court had appointed senior advocate Shekhar Naphade as an amicus curiae to assist it and find out the actual outstanding professional fees of Gupta, who used to represent the State Government at various courts of law.
"I, therefore, recommend to this court that Gupta is entitled to receive a total sum of Rs 48.01 lakh only. I am further of the view that no advocate should claim interest on bill amounts, especially in the case of bills relating to the Government. Therefore, I am not inclined to recommend grant of any interest," Naphade, in its report, suggested to the court.
Accepting the report, the bench ordered, "We direct the counsel appearing for the state of Rajasthan to pay the entire amount, as aforesaid, within a period of four weeks from today to Aruneshwar Gupta, the learned counsel."