Sharad Yadav to be opposition nominee for President?

April 21, 2017

New Delhi, Apr 21: JD(U) President Sharad Yadav could emerge as the joint opposition candidate for the presidential election scheduled later this year.

There were some signs of coming together of opposition parties as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flew in from Patna on Thursday to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The two had discussed the upcoming presidential election and opposition unity to counter an aggressive BJP. Soon after Kumar had left, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, another votary of a joint opposition candidate in the presidential election, met Gandhi.

Political circles in the capital are abuzz with Sharad Yadav as the possible joint opposition candidate against the official nominee that would be fielded by the NDA led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A section of the opposition also believes that NCP supremo Sharad Pawar could be a better candidate, given his warm relations with leaders across the political spectrum. This section believes that with Pawar in the fray, the opposition can engineer a rift within the NDA as Shiv Sena could favour a Maharashtrian in Rashtrapati Bhawan, over the official nominee.

In the past two presidential elections, the Sena had voted in favour of Congress nominees – Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee. Gandhi responded positively to Yechury's suggestion of a joint opposition candidate for the presidential elections. Kumar had requested Gandhi to take the lead and coordinate with opposition leaders to forge a strategy for the presidential elections.

Yechury asked Gandhi to convene a meeting of opposition leaders to discuss the issue.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too met BJD supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneshwar on Thursday. BJD has been supportive of the Modi government on a range of issues in Parliament. Speaking in Kolkata on Friday, Banerjee made a strong pitch for unity among regional parties.

The opposition leaders have been in touch with Kumar already already deliberating on these matters with Yechury, CPI Secretary D Raja and Pawar. Separately, Yechury has also held informal discussions with Pawar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

As the SP and BSP gave their worst ever performance in the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, BSP supremo Mayawati too had spoke in favour of a coalition of opposition parties. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had welcomed Mayawati's remarks, while his father Mulayam Singh Yadav did not find the idea interesting.

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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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