Karnataka   

Cauvery case: lawyers pocket Rs. 23 crore

Staff Reporter

Professional fees paid by Government to advocates representing the State in the past 16 years

Bangalore: The State Government, which is preparing for the next round of the legal battle on the Cauvery dispute in July before the Supreme Court, has spent a whopping Rs. 23.44 crore on its advocates’ professional fees during the past 16 years.

Till February this year, the State paid Rs. 22.1 crore to 18 advocates, including Anil B. Divan who has been appearing for the State before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal from 1992. The professional fee paid is apart from the air fare and accommodation expenses for the advocates when they visit Bangalore for consultation with State officials.

This information was given to Krishna Joshi, a resident of Dharwad, by the Chief Engineer (in charge), Inter-State Waters, Bangalore, under the Right to Information Act.

While Mr. Divan tops the list with Rs. 9.66 crore in professional fees, Fali. S. Nariman, who has represented the State since the tribunal’s inception, received Rs. 2.08 crore. The Government also played host to Mr. Divan during his 46 visits to the State.

Advocate Mohan Kataraki made 193 visits to Bangalore since 1990, and his fees so far amount to Rs. 2.75 crore. He is followed by S.S. Javali, with 158 visits and Rs. 3.77 crore in professional fees. Shambu Prasad Singh, who has made 138 visits to Bangalore, has been paid Rs. 2.41 crore since 1993. Mr. Nariman visited Bangalore 19 times.

The names of the other advocates and the fees paid are Brijesh Kalappa (Rs. 31.42 lakh), S.C. Sharma (Rs. 25.87 lakh), Syed Naqvi (Rs. 19.60 lakh), Y.S. Chitale (Rs. 18.93 lakh), Atul Y. Chitale (Rs. 2.61 lakh), T.R. Andhyarujina (Rs. 12.06 lakh), Deepak M. Nargolkar (Rs. 2.27 lakh), M. Veerappa (Rs. 1.16 lakh), Sanjay R. Hegde (Rs. 12.95 lakh), Ranvir Singh (Rs. 11.66 lakh), Padmanabha Mahale (Rs. 58,700), Nanjappa Ganapathy (Rs. 45,000) and Ashok Mathur (Rs. 3,000).

The State Government paid Rs. 1.34 crore in professional fees to 10 Advocates-General between 1990 and February 2007. The payment includes Rs. 76.05 lakh to A.N. Jayaram, Rs. 27.03 lakh to S. Vijayashankar, Rs. 8.88 lakh to B.V. Acharya, Rs. 8.55 lakh to B.T. Parthasarathy, Rs. 5.82 lakh to M.R. Janardhan, Rs. 3.08 lakh to P.P. Mutthanna and Rs. 2.66 lakh to Shivappa. The present Advocate-General, Uday Holla, has been paid Rs. 1 lakh.

The State Government has refused to reveal its consultations with the Advocate-General, who was in favour of filing an appeal before the Supreme Court against the tribunal’s order. Mr. Joshi had sought the reasons assigned by Advocate-General for advocating filing of an appeal when the Inter-State Water Disputes Act specifies that the tribunal’s judgment is final and cannot be questioned either in the High Court or the Supreme Court.

The Chief Engineer said advice to the Government given by the Advocate-General or any advocate is “privileged communication” and cannot be made public.

Mr. Joshi was given the information he sought after the matter reached the Karnataka Information Commission following a delay of more than a month. The commission issued summons to the Public Information Officer asking him to appear before it on June 21. Two officials from Irrigation Department appeared before the commission, which asked them on what basis the advocates’ professional fees were paid. It also asked for details about all-party delegation visits to New Delhi and the expenses incurred on them, besides those incurred on the advocates visits to the State.

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