Passengers may pay for NDA dreams

July 8, 2014

New Delhi, Jul 8: D V Sadananda Gowda is all set to present the Modi government's first and his own maiden Railway Budget on Tuesday, but there are already apprehensions that passengers might have to pay more as the NDA government’s priorities, like high-speed trains, Dedicated Freight Corridors and IT-based solutions for better rail operations may sap resources.

Analysts have been grappling with the question: Will the Railway Budget—as indicated by Gowda—put additional burden on passengers and make travel costly by charging for every single facility?

Gowda has been hinting at major decisions like the creation of safety fund, a proposal that has been pending for years now. The last fund created during the regime of Nitish Kumar as Rail Minister had proved to be highly useful. It contributed to improving the track capacity and signalling system.

The new rail safety fund is being contemplated basically for modernisation of safety systems. It will include measures like installing Train Collision Avoidance System and upgrading signalling system.

Keeping in view the poor financial condition of the railways and the remote possibility of getting additional financial support from the Finance Ministry for this fund, it is likely that some kind of cess would be imposed on passengers.

The orientation of Modi government indicates that it will try to do away with every kind of direct and indirect subsidies. So, there may be charges on services other than ones deemed essential.

The idea of charging the passenger for providing a facility of his/her choice is not new as it was mooted during the UPA regime by Dinesh Trivedi. Providing value added services at AC executive lounge at stations was one of such ideas. Gowda may come up with more such services.

Another aspect of the high-growth model is that it may lead to abandoning the ideas which do not help move this model ahead. The priorities may be fast-completion of such projects to add to the overall growth story that the Modi government wants to make.

Hence, those rail lines which connect mines, ports or metros (Quadrilateral Rail Network) may get priorities and others with bleak commercial prospects may be left out.

Strategic connectivity is also likely to get preference. It is to be seen what would be the response of the new regime towards the expansion of rail in remote and backward areas.

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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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