No double standards by Cong on Insurance Bill: Rahul Gandhi

August 5, 2014

New Delhi, Aug 5: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today rejected BJP's charge that the party is doing a 'U-turn' on the Insurance Bill, saying that there are "no double standards" by it on the issue.

"I think, there are no double standards on the Insurance Bill by the Congress," Gandhi told reporters in Parliament House. The opposition party has kept the government guessing on the crucial bill asking it to take on board all stakeholders and favouring the Select Committee route even as it insisted that the measure is its own "baby" and it is a "misnomer" that the party is opposed to it.

The controversial Insurance Bill, which was listed in Rajya Sabha yesterday, was deferred for consideration for the time being after a meeting of the government with opposition leaders failed to break the deadlock in the face of the demand to send it to a Select Committee.

The meeting, convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu yesterday, could not iron out differences with the opposition despite Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's plea that the current bill has virtually the same language and content as the previous bill of the Congress-led UPA.

"We are totally in favour of FDI. It is our baby and it was the BJP which was opposed to the bill in 2008. We were given to understand that our bill is going to be passed in the House. But the NDA government has made some substantive amendments to the bill.

"We have recommended that the substantive issues like the FDI, which have been diluted by the FII, along with other issues should be discussed, examined dispassionately and objectively by the Select Committee. The bill can be passed in the Winter Session and we will ensure its passage," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad had said yesterday.

Rejecting suggestions that it was doing a "flip-flop" on the Insurance Bill issue, party spokesperson Randip Surjewala had said, "If investments of lakhs of people are going to be jeopardised, then the necessary balancing has to be done."

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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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