‘Why so much fuss about that?’: Javadekar defends cutting of trees for PM Modi’s rally

Agencies

October 16, 2019

New Delhi, Oct 16: Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday defended cutting of trees for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's poll rally, saying such a thing was done earlier too, but more trees were also planted.

His remarks came a day after the opposition parties alleged that some trees on the campus of Sir Parshuram College in Maharashtra's Pune city were chopped on Monday for Modi's October 17 rally, which will be held on the college ground.

"Every time we cut trees, we plant more. It is a rule of the forest department," Javadekar told reporters here.

"And why is there so much fuss about cutting of trees for Modi's rally? Trees have been cut for rallies of others too, and for rallies of previous prime ministers. I wonder why there was no such awareness previously," he said.

On the issue of farmer suicides in Maharashtra, Javadekar said, "We inherited the issue from the previous (Congress-NCP) government."

"Farmers' suicides are happening only in five districts because there were no irrigation facilities," the minister said.

He also hit out at the NCP, blaming it for the current crisis in the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank.

"The PMC bank crisis is a sin of the NCP," he said.

Following the discovery of an over Rs 4,000 crore scam at the bank, which has deposits of over Rs 11,000 crore, the Reserve Bank of India last month appointed an administrator over it, and capped withdrawals at Rs 1,000.

On Monday evening, the withdrawal cap was hiked to Rs 40,000, with the RBI saying that it will give relief to 77 per cent of depositors.

Javadekar also welcomed the BJP's demand of the Bharat Ratna for Hindu ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

The BJP's Maharashtra unit on Tuesday sought the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, for Savarkar in its manifesto for the October 21 state polls.

"We are happy that the manifesto has mentioned the demand that Savarkar and Phule duo (social reformers Savitribai Phule and Mahatma Phule) be honoured with the Bharat Ratna," the minister 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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