Inflation likely to ease by year-end: Survey

July 9, 2014

New Delhi, Jul 9: India's wholesale as well as retail inflation is likely to decline by the end of this year, a government survey said Wednesday.

However, it warned that prices may spike if the monsoon remains sub-normal.

The Economic Survey 2013-14 presented in parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said both the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation have declined in the past two financial years and the trend is expected to continue.

"The WPI inflation is expected to moderate by the end of 2014," the survey released a day ahead of the national budget said.

However, there are risks to the outlook for inflation from a possible sub-normal monsoon during 2014-15 as predicted by the India Meteorological Department on account of the El-Nino effect, a possible step up in the pass-through of international crude oil prices and exchange rate volatility, it added.

According to the survey, the average wholesale price-based inflation fell to a three-year low of 5.98 percent in the financial year ended March 31, 2014 as against 7 percent and 9 percent posted in the previous two years respectively.

Consumer price-based inflation, though higher than the WPI, has also exhibited signs of moderation. It declined from 10.21 percent in 2012-13 to about 9.49 percent in 2013-14.

Food inflation, however, remained stubbornly high during the financial year 2013-14, reaching a peak of 11.95 percent in the third quarter.

"High inflation, particularly food inflation, was the result of structural as well as seasonal factors. Contribution of the commodity sub-groups, 'fruits and vegetables', as well as 'egg, meat and fish' to the food inflation has been very high," the survey report said.

Inflation in non-food manufactured product (WPI core) has remained benign throughout the year, with average inflation moderated to a four year low of 2.9 percent in 2013-14, which indicates that underlying pressures of broad-based inflation have somewhat eased.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that most global commodity prices are expected to remain flat during 2014-15, which augurs well for inflation in emerging markets and developing countries including India, the report 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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