HCU:Striking non-teaching staff resume duties;campus peaceful

March 24, 2016

Hyderabad, Mar 24: The non-teaching staff of Hyderabad Central University (HCU), who had gone on a strike protesting vandalisation of VC's lodge on March 22 allegedly by a group of students, resumed their duties today as the situation on the campus remained peaceful.

Members of HCU Non-Teaching Staff Union had boycotted duties from Tuesday afternoon protesting ransacking of Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile's official residence (VC's lodge) and after being assaulted allegedly by the group of students opposing Podile resuming his duty.

As part of the strike, cooks had shut down 'Students' Mess', expressing support to the Vice Chancellor (VC) after which students had set up an open kitchen yesterday.

"Messes, which had been shut down due to the strike by non-teaching staff opened today...they (non-teaching staff) have resumed their duties from today in the larger interest of the university," HCU Registrar M Sudhakar told PTI.

Meanwhile, twenty-five students and two faculty members of HCU, who were arrested yesterday in connection with incidents of vandalism at VC's lodge and stone pelting on police personnel, were sent to judicial remand last night and are lodged in Cherlapally Central Prison.

"The situation on the campus is peaceful today," Gachibowli police inspector J Ramesh said.

Mother of deceased Dalit research scholar Rohit Vemula, Radhika, who had staged a sit-in protest along with scores of HCU students in front of the university last night after being denied entry, withdrew her protest at around 11.15 pm, HCU Chief Security Officer T V Rao said.

Radhika and the protesting students, who demanded Podile's immediate removal from the post and the release of students and faculty members arrested in connection with vandalism of the VC's lodge and stone-pelting on police, also made a vain bid to "barge" inside the campus but were stopped at the entrance itself, Rao said.

"She wanted to hold a dharna inside the campus, but we prevented her from doing so. She along with around 200 students attempted to go inside the campus, but we stopped them and they finally withdrew their protest at around 11.15 pm," the security official 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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