CVC probe finds loopholes in empanelment of advocates

December 2, 2012
VEERAPA_MOILYNew Delhi, December 2: A Central Vigilance Commission probe has found some loopholes in the empanelment of advocates allegedly on the basis of political recommendations and disproportionate allotment of work among them by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The alleged irregularities were found in Judicial Section under the Department of Legal Affairs in the Ministry of Law and Justice which is responsible for the appointment of law officers to assist it in legal matters.

"Examination of allocation of cases to the panel counsels under Panel A for the period September 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010 showed that four out of 167 panel counsels got 27 per cent share of the total number of cases as each one of them got more than 500 cases.

"On the whole, 74 per cent share of the total number of cases during the period went to 12 per cent of the panel counsels. On the other hand, 48 per cent of the panel counsels did not get any case during the period and 20 per cent of them were given insignificant quantity of work i.e. between 1 and 10 cases each during the year," according to the investigation, which began last year.

The stakes were higher in the allocation of work for Panel A counsels as the remuneration was higher. For regular appearance a Panel A counsel was paid Rs 4,500 per case per day and Rs 3,000 per case per day for other litigation matters, it said.

As per the norms, advocates are empanelled as panel counsels to assist the law officers in dealing with the litigations on behalf of the Central government. The empanelment of advocates is done in three categories--Panel-A, Panel-B and Panel-C--as per their seniority and experience.

The probe also found that the very categorisation of panel counsels as specialised in revenue and non revenue cases was not supported by a due process of scrutiny of experience or profile of the panel counsels.

"Examination by the CVC team showed that the empanelment of advocates as panel counsels by the judicial section of the Department of Legal Affairs was based largely on recommendations.

"Recommendations from very important persons viz. Solicitors or Additional Solicitors General of India, Ministers, Members of Parliament and other prominent persons were received by the Minister of Law and Justice and sometimes by the Secretary of the Department," it said in its report which has yet not reached its logical conclusion.

The probe, done on the basis of files pertaining empanelment of panel counsels conducted by the Judicial Wing for 2009 and 2010 among others method, was done by a team of senior CVC officials apparently on the basis of complaints of alleged corruption received by the probity watchdog.

The CVC team also observed that there was no system of monitoring of a litigation from starting to its conclusion.


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Agencies
March 16,2020

Amaravati, Mar 16: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that paracetamol is the only medication for coronavirus.

He said that COVID-19 is lethal for those have comorbid conditions including blood pressure, asthma and kidney diseases.

"There is no need to get panic about Coronavirus. Its impact is majorly on senior citizens aged above 60 years. It is dangerous to those suffering from diabetes, blood pressure, asthma and kidney diseases. For others, it is not so much dangerous. And paracetamol is the only medication for coronavirus," Reddy said on Sunday while addressing a press conference on the postponing of the local body elections as coronavirus cases continue to rise.

"In case anybody coming from foreign countries is found suffering from cough, cold and fever, bleaching powder should be sprayed on their belongings and things they use. The government is creating awareness on such precautions," he added.

Reddy slammed the State Election Commissioner's decision of postponing the local body elections for six weeks and alleged that the SEC was acting at the behest of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu.

The opposition has targeted Reddy on his statement, saying the chief minister is behaving "ignorantly" and "irresponsibly" on the issue of coronavirus.

"While Telangana CM had changed his stand and closed shops and theatres in his state, Jagan Reddy is speaking as if there is no need for any panic. This CM is behaving ignorantly and irresponsibly," said Naidu.

Andhra Pradesh has reported one case of coronavirus. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India has risen to 110.

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Agencies
February 11,2020

New Delhi, Feb 11 Congress's performance touched a record low in the Delhi Assembly election as the party bagged less than 5 per cent of the total votes polled and 63 of its candidates lost their deposits.

The party, which ruled Delhi for 15 years on the trot under former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, failed to open its account for the second consecutive assembly election in Delhi.

Only three of its candidates Arvinder Singh Lovely from Gandhi Nagar, Devender Yadav from Badli and Abhishek Dutt from Kasturba Nagar managed to save their deposits.

Security deposit of a candidate is forfeited if he/she fails to secure one-sixth of the total valid votes cast in a constituency.

Most of Congress candidates got less than 5 per cent of the total votes polled in their respective constituencies.

Delhi Congress chief Shubhash Chopra's daughter Shivani Chopra, who was the party candidate from Kalkaji, also could not save her deposit.

Former Delhi Assembly Speaker Yoganand Shastri's daughter Priyanka Singh also forfeited her deposit.

The party's campaign committee chairman Kirti Azad's wife, Poonam Azad, lost badly and stood fourth, polling only 2,604 (2.23) votes.

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News Network
June 8,2020

Panaji (Goa)/Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Bengaluru(Karnataka)/New Delhi [India], June 8 (ANI): With the government allowing the re-opening of restaurants and eateries from Monday, these establishments re-opened across several states on Monday including in Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, with necessary precautions in place amid COVID-19 crisis.

Restaurants reopened in Panaji today after relaxations in lockdown.

Speaking to ANI, Goa Hotel and Restaurant Association President, Gaurish Dhond said, "We expect that not more than 25 per cent of restaurants will reopen because our labour force is dependent upon migrant workers who have gone to their homes".

"Every guest will be checked with a thermal gun, we will provide them with a sanitizer and a digital menu most probably. We would like to request our customers to pay online. Residential hotels are also allowed to operate and guidelines have been issued for them," he added.

Bars are not allowed to operate, he added.

While religious places across the country were thrown open today, worship places continued to remain closed in Goa till June 30.

In Bhopal restaurants opened but with fewer customers venturing to eat outside.

Speaking to ANI, C Kumaran, Manager, India Coffee House, New Market said, "We will conduct a temperature check for customers at the entry point. Then the customers will have to wash and sanitize their hands only then they will be allowed to sit inside. Only two persons will be allowed to sit on a four-seat table."

"This restaurant has a seating capacity of around 120 persons which has now been reduced to 50. Even in the kitchen, staff capacity has been reduced to 50 per cent," he added.

Meanwhile, malls re-opened in Bengaluru today, people along with staff members were allowed to enter inside Garuda Mall while maintaining social distancing.

"As per government norms, we are following all the preventive measures. Staff and other people are being sanitized and then only allowed inside the mall. The mall has been deep cleaned. People entering the mall should have Aarogya Setu App installed in their mobile phones if not, they will be sent back," said John Joseph, Manager, Garuda Mall.

Restaurants re-opened in the national capital as Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announced yesterday that all restaurants and malls are allowed to resume operations from today.

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