Pleaders cant claim special fee for arbitration

KOCHI: The High Court on Thursday opined that the government pleaders who had been receiving monthly salary could not claim separate fees for appearing in arbitration cases. The court also sought the view of the State Government on how the GPs could have been paid additional fees when they were paid salary from the government exchequer.Justice S Siri Jagan passed the order while considering a petition filed by former senior government pleader Benny Varghese who challenged the delay in granting the fee for an arbitration case on behalf of government in connection with Kallada irrigation project. He pointed out that the other GPs had received arbitration fees from the government.The then Advocate General C P Sudhakara Prasad received an amount of Rs 48,93,144, while the then senior GPs A V Manoj Kumar and P K Babu got a sum of Rs 17,47,688 and Rs 95,757, respectively, for conducting arbitration cases of Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP), the petition said.While the petitioner was working as a senior GP, he was appointed to defend an arbitration case, which was referred by the High Court. After the case was over, he claimed the fees in accordance to the rule.Thereafter, the state sought a clarification from the then AG whether the GP was entitled to get additional fee. The AG had then replied that it was a special appointment and he was eligible for the payment. But there was no response from the government, the petitioner said.