BJP forces Mamata Banerjee into tie-up talks with arch enemy CPM?

August 30, 2014

Kolkata, Aug 30: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said she was not at all worried about the BJP gaining foothold in West Bengal, claiming that a new leadership which believes in riots has come up in the saffron party sidelining veteran leaders like L K Advani and M M Joshi

"Now a new regime has come in the BJP which believes in riots and not in politics. They have sidelined veteran leaders like L K Advani, M M Joshi. They don't give respect to Vajpayeeji," Banerjee said during an interview with a vernacular news channel here.

Asked whether she was having any sense of worry about BJP in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress supremo said "totally no."

"I know BJP very well. I had once worked under the leadership of Atal Behari Vajpayee for some time," Banerjee, who was in the BJP-led NDA government, said.

"They know that they cannot reach the people through politics, or social reforms, so they take recourse to violence," Banerjee said.

The TMC supremo claimed that CPI(M) men were getting into BJP fold and were becoming part of its "bhairav bahini".

"They are trying to incite violence and riots in the state. They don't believe in practising politics, they believe in creating divisions through raising communal passion," Banerjee said.

Asked whether she was willing to have alliance with the Left parties, she said, "We can hold talks with them, there is no problem in talking."

Asked whether she is ready to join hands with CPI-M, Banerjee replied, "I did not say that. I only said if any proposal comes, we will discuss in our party."

Taking a jibe at the BJP's pre-election slogan promoting Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate, Banerjee said, "Achche din aney wale hain? bure din aye hain (good days are to come? bad days have come)."

Asked about BJP's aggressive posturing in West Bengal since the Lok Sabha elections, she said, "Let them first get five seats, then they can dream about 294 seats (West Bengal Assembly strength)."

BJP at present does not have any representation in the state Assembly, but has won two Lok Sabha seats out of 42 in the state in the last elections.

"They have got only two seats, one of which is Darjeeling that they had won earlier also and have got one more only, so what is the noise all about?" she asked.

On Lalu-Nitish tie-up to stop BJP in Bihar, Banerjee said, "If such a situation arose in Bengal, we will think over. I still think nobody is untouchable. We had tie-up with SUCI once. We also had tie-up with some other smaller parties. If anybody comes forward we can talk. In a democracy, nobody should shut the door for talks. No option should be closed."

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‘Pay the worker before his sweat dries’: Madras High Court cites Prophet Muhammad’s teaching while ordering settlement of dues

News Network

December 21,2025

Invoking the teachings of Prophet Muhammad—“pay the worker before his sweat dries”—the Madras High Court has directed a municipal corporation to settle long-pending legal dues owed to a former counsel. The court observed that this principle reflects basic fairness and applies equally to labour and service-related disputes.

Justice G. R. Swaminathan made the observation while hearing a petition filed by advocate P. Thirumalai, who claimed that the Madurai City Municipal Corporation failed to pay him legal fees amounting to ₹13.05 lakh. Earlier, the High Court had asked the corporation to consider his representation. However, a later order rejected a major portion of his claim, prompting the present petition.

The court allowed Thirumalai to approach the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and submit a list of cases in which he had appeared. It also directed the corporation to settle the verified fee bills within two months, without interest. The court noted that the petitioner had waited nearly 18 years before challenging the non-payment and that the corporation could not be fully blamed, as the fee bills were not submitted properly.

‘A Matter of Embarrassment’

Justice Swaminathan described it as a “matter of embarrassment” that the State has nearly a dozen Additional Advocate Generals. He observed that appointing too many law officers often leads to unnecessary allocation of work and frequent adjournments, as government counsel claim that senior officers are engaged elsewhere.

He expressed hope that such practices would end at least in the Madurai Bench of the High Court and added that Additional Advocate Generals should “turn a new leaf” from 2026 onwards.

‘Scandalously High Amounts’

While stating that the court cannot examine the exact fees paid to senior counsel or law officers, Justice Swaminathan stressed that good governance requires public funds to be used prudently. He expressed concern over the “scandalously high amounts” paid by government and quasi-government bodies to a few favoured law officers.

In contrast, the court noted that Thirumalai’s total claim was “a pittance” considering the large number of cases he had handled.

Background

Thirumalai served as the standing counsel for the Madurai City Municipal Corporation for more than 14 years, from 1992 to 2006. During this period, he represented the corporation in about 818 cases before the Madurai District Courts.

As the former counsel was unable to hire a clerk to obtain certified copies of judgments in all 818 cases, the court directed the District Legal Services Authority to collect the certified copies within two months. The court further ordered the corporation to bear the cost incurred by the DLSA and deduct that amount from the final settlement payable to the petitioner.

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