Footages of Rahul with eyes shut in LS goes viral on social media

July 9, 2014

New Delhi, Jul 9: Video footage of Rahul Gandhi apparently dozing off today in the Lok Sabha during a debate on price rise went viral on the social media.

The Congress vice president was seen in a television shot with closed eyes and head tilting on the right.

The shot, picked up from Lok Sabha TV, went viral on the social media accompanied by carping comments.

While Congress prmptly denied that Rahul was sleeping, BJP taunted it by saying this is what the party was doing on price rise for the last 10 years.

"It is not true. I totally and categorically deny all aspersions," Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said lamenting that the matter has been sensationalised and wondered whether it behoves to raise such issues.

He said that for the last seven weeks the government has played "petty and vindictive" politics.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said,"On the issue of price rise, the Congress has been sleeping for the last ten years. And today when there was a discussion on price rise in Parliament, Congress's Yuvraj fell asleep.

"Congress is not ready to discuss on price rise and inflation. They use the word just for slogans. Congress is never serious on the issue of price rise and that is why Rahul Gandhi became so bored with this discussion that he slept off," he said.

Countering this, Congress leader Rajiv Shukla said that a "trivial and frivolous issue" is being unnecessarily highlighted.

"First of all this is not a controversy. This is very trivial and frivolous issue which is being unnecessarily highlighted. In the last 14 years during my Parliament career, I have seen lot many people taking a nap or sleeping or dozing off in Parliament of BJP, Shahnawaz Hussain's own party.

"Sometimes people shut their eyes and listen to the speech very patiently. This must be the case with Rahul Gandhi as well. Atal Bihari Vajpayee always used to shut his eyes to listen to debates. What does it mean?

"Lot many BJP ministers are still sleeping or taking a nap which they call a 'catnap'. Rahul Gandhi must be giving a patient hearing. Unnecessarily you are trying to blow this issue out of proportion," Shukla said.

Meanwhile, NCP too came to the defence of the Congress vice president and said closing one's eyes does not mean sleeping.

" Many people in Parliament close their eyes. It does not mean they are sleeping," senior NCP leader Praful Patel said.

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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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