Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government is paying a whopping Rs 1 crore to a lawyer flown in from Delhi to appear for it in a case that the former chief minister Oommen Chandy has filed against the solar scam inquiry panel.
Other expenses for the lawyer in the form of air ticket, accommodation, etc. have also been incurred over and above this remuneration, at a time when the finance minister has urged the public to tighten their belts due to the weak state finances.
The Delhi lawyer, Ranjit Kumar, who is a solicitor general of the government of India, has to be paid a fee of Rs 20 lakh for a single appearance. The additional advocate general of the state had appeared for the government when the case was taken up first. It was decided to bring Ranjit Kumar when the case was posted to February 27. The government had kept ready a demand draft (DD) for Rs 20 lakh, but the case wasn't taken up on that date.
Later, Ranjit Kumar had appeared in the court from March 1 to 4 on behalf of the government. The DD was given as fee for his first appearance on March 1.The advocate general (AG) handed over Rs 60 lakh more to him as fees for his three more appearances. The AG has now written to the law secretary that Rs 20 lakh more need to be paid to the lawyer on March 17 when he is due to appear again. The total fee for five appearances thus adds up to Rs 1 crore.
The state minister of law affairs has approved the bill and has forwarded the file to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Two government pleaders had flown to Delhi to brief Ranjit Kumar on the details of the case. Their expenses are on top of all the expenses for Ranjit Kumar.
The expensive lawyer was imported even as the AG, two Additional AGs, the director general of prosecution, state attorney and 122 lawyers are available at the High Court to represent the government.
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