Parrikar claims AG paid fees in excess

NT NETWORK
Posted on 2008-08-23
PANAJI - The Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat on Friday said that the entire law department needs restructuring as even a file, which goes to it just for vetting purpose, gets stuck for long time.
Replying to a related issue, during the Question Hour on Friday, the Chief Minister also acknowledged that there is no mechanism to appoint advocates for pleading government cases.
The Leader of the Opposition stated that the Advocate General, Mr Subodh Kantak has been paid Rs 3.05 crore as his fees for a period of 30 months, with only 277 effective working days. He further stated that the Advocate General’s support staff including advocates have been paid as much as Rs 82.49 lakh.
“Furthermore,” Mr Parrikar pointed out, “There is no evaluation mechanism for the advocates pleading government cases.” He also stated that such advocates are not selected on the basis of their past performances in the court, including how many cases they had won or lost. The Leader of the Opposition further said that few advocates like Ms Winnie Coutinho have got maximum cases for pleading, for the government, while others were being appointed to plead very few cases.
Mr Parrikar also demanded that the government should recover all the extra money paid to Mr Kantak, the Advocate General, wherein he had charged fees to appear for 102 cases, when actually he had appeared only once during the bail application case for 102 persons. “The government should recover the money he had charged for extra 101 cases, and pay him whatever is to be paid for single appearance,” he demanded.
The Chief Minister, stating that he would examine the case and take necessary decision, informed the House that the government has already revised the fees of the Advocate General and also decided to fix the AG’s fees on monthly basis. “The government is also in the process of getting the records of the payment of fees to the AGs in the neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, for reference,” he added.