BJP likely to be invited to form government in Delhi

September 5, 2014

New Delhi, Sep 5: BJP is likely to be invited to form a government in Delhi with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung sending a report to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking permission to call the single largest party to take a shot at power though it is well short of majority in the Assembly.

In his report, Jung gave a detailed analysis of the political situation in the city and underlined the need to have an elected government in the city which is under President's rule since February 17 following resignation of the Aam Aadmi Party government which was in power for 49 days.

The Lt Governor said though no party has staked claim to form government in Delhi, the BJP could be invited to take the reins as it is the single largest party in the Assembly.Jung observed that all options for putting in place an elected government should be explored before contemplating holding of fresh polls.

Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay said the party would examine if it was invited to form government.

Sources in BJP said almost all its MLAs and senior "Delhi leaders were not in favour of facing Assembly election immediately and have already conveyed their views to top leadership.

BJP, along with its ally Akali Dal's one MLA, has 29 MLAs in the Assembly and it will require support of five more legislators to prove majority in the House.

BJP had won 31 seats in the 70-member Assembly but the number of BJP MLAs came down to 28 as three party legislators Harsh Vardhan, Ramesh Bidhuri and Pervesh Verma had resigned from the Assembly after they were elected to Lok Sabha.

Following resignation of the three legislators, the strength of the Assembly had come down to 67 and BJP will require support of at least five more MLAs to reach the majority mark of 34 to prove its majority in the House.

The Aam Aadmi Party had won 28 seats in its debut Assembly elections and had later formed the government with outside support from Congress' eight MLAs.

The government led by Kejriwal had resigned on February 14 after the party's pet project, the Janlokpal Bill, could not be passed due to opposition from BJP and Congress.President's Rule was imposed in Delhi on February 17.

The Lt Governor had not favoured dissolution of the Delhi Assembly as recommended by the Council of Ministers headed by Kejriwal and kept the Assembly in suspended animation.

Last week the Congress and AAP had cautioned the Lt Governor not to take any "unconstitutional move" by inviting BJP to form government.

Both the parties have been demanding immediate dissolution of the Assembly, saying keeping it in suspended animation will encourage horse trading.

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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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