Activists' arrest: Never heard of their Naxals links, says Sharad Pawar

Agencies

August 29, 2018

New Delhi, Aug 29: Taking a strong exception to the arrests of five activists, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday ridiculed the government for arresting the activists in the name of association with the Naxalite movement.

"Those who have been arrested and at least I can say in my home state, I know some of them, they are activists. It's a very unfortunate thing that the government and the police authority are arresting them in the name of association with Naxalite movement," Pawar told reporters here.

"I know some individuals, and as per my information, they are not the ones, who can go to the extreme level to the assassination of X and Y," he added.

The NCP chief further said that he would be visiting the homes of the arrested civil right activists and talk to their families and locals in the area.

"After getting information about the Maharashtra arresting, I have decided I will go to everybody's house and discuss with the local population, their neighbours and everyone," he elucidated.

On Tuesday, raids were carried out by the Pune Police in Mumbai, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Delhi and Thane, with informed sources telling ANI that Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha, Varnan Gonsalves and Sudha Bhardwaj were the five activists arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence which broke out in January.

The violence erupted in Bhima Koregaon during the gathering to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle. A youth died and several others, including 10 policemen, were injured in the incident.

Pawar further noted that he knew some of the activists personally, but to associate them with the Naxals was wrong.

"I know some of them and they are activists, they are leftist but I never heard that they are associated with Naxalism. Those, whose thinking is of Left type, I can't call each and every one of them as Naxals," Pawar added.

When asked if arrests were an effort to divert the attention from questions being raised on Sanatan Sanstha's role in the killing of rationalists M.M. Kalburgi, Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar and Gauri Lankesh, Pawar noted that as per media reports, certain organisations, are closely associated with these assassinations.

"If these reports are factually correct, then anyone can come a conclusion that, just to divert the attention from those particular incidents and those involved in it, unnecessary importance are given to these people who are activists," 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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