Two civilian, counter-insurgent killed by militants in Kashmir

April 17, 2017

Srinagar, Apr 17: Two civilians and a notorious counter insurgent were killed by militants in Kashmir during last 24-hours.

Reports said militants killed Rashid Billa was inside his home in Hajin area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district at around 10 pm on Sunday night. Police sources said that militants barged into Billa’s home and opened indiscriminate fire, killing him on the spot. Billa was involved in the massacre of seven civilians at Sadrakoot in Bandipora on 5 October, 1996.

The J&K High Court had declared slain Billa as a pro-claimed offender after police failed to nab him for years.

In another incident, unidentified militants shot dead an advocate associated with opposition National Conference in south Kashmir’s Shopian district. Reports said three unidentified militants barged into the house of Advocate Imtiyaz Ahmad in Pinjora, Shopian, 70 kms from here, at around 9.30 pm and shot him dead. Ahmad was a public prosecutor during previous NC-Congress government.

Earlier, militants had shot dead a worker of ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in neighbouring Pulwama district on Saturday night. A police official said the militants entered into the house of Bashir Ahmad Dar and his cousin Altaf Ahmad Dar at Qasbaya, Pulwama, 35 kms from here, late Saturday night and asked the duo to accompany them.

“After abducting them the militants fired upon them, leaving the duo in pool of blood. They were rushed to a hospital where doctors declared Bashir as brought dead while Altaf was referred to Srinagar hospital for specialised treatment,” he added.

While Bashir was a worker of ruling PDP his cousin Altaf, according to reports, used to run a medical shop in neighbouring Rajpora area. Sources said the duo had been warned by the militants in the past to disassociate themselves from mainstream politics. “One of the relatives of deceased Bashir is a senior police officer,” they revealed.

The Valley has been on the edge since April 9, when eight civilians were killed in clashes during by-polling to Srinagar Parliament constituency.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir police have issued an advisory to its personnel to avoid visiting their hometowns for the next few months, following incidents of attacks by militants on their residences and family members.

The advisory follows over a dozen incidents of attacks on families of police personnel in Kulgam and Shopian districts. The family members of police personnel deployed in anti-insurgency operations were threatened and asked to persuade the uniformed men to quit service.

After the first incident stae Police Chief Shesh Paul Vaid had warned ultras that 'they too have families.' "Militants should realise they too have families. Let them (militants) take this as a warning," Vaid told a national news channel in response to the ransacking of a DSP level police officer’s house by militants in south Kashmir's Shopian district last month and threats to his family members.

“This is between police and terrorists and families should not be brought into this conflict. If the police start doing this (threatening), what will happen to their (militant) families,” he 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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