Karnataka CM has vitiated atmosphere for talks with Goa: BJP

DHNS

December 28, 2017

Bengaluru, Dec 28: BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of "vitiating the cordial relationship" with which his Goa counterpart Manohar Parrikar expressed his willingness for talks to resolve Mahadayi dispute.

Addressing a press conference soon after the failure of his talks with farmers, Yeddyurappa said it was "unprecedented" on the part of the Goa chief minister to agree for holdings talks with Karnataka on Mahadayi dispute.

Farmers have been protest ing outside the BJP headquarters in Bengaluru demanding clarity on the dispute.

"Siddaramaiah has now spoilt everything. He has vitiated the atmosphere between the two states. In fact, he has done more damage than (former Congress chief) Sonia Gandhi," Yeddyurappa said. Sonia, in an election rally in 2012 in Goa, had stated that not a single drop of Mahadayi water will be given to Karnataka."It makes no difference whether Parrikar writes to me in my capacity as party president or the chief minister. But Siddaramaiah, instead of accepting the opportunity and getting the dispute resolved, played politics. He has done irreparable damage," Yeddyurappa said.

He even accused Siddaramaiah of clandestinely asking Congress leaders in Goa to oppose holding talks with Karnataka.

"We made sincere efforts to get Mahadayi water for people of North Karnataka. We would have succeeded, but for the Congress," Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar said.

Two hospitalised

Two women fell sick outside the BJP headquarters at the protest venue on Tuesday after four straight days of protest.

They were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

A city-based team of doctors has volunteered to provide first-aid and primary health care to the protesters.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

‘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.

Comments