Fee paid to panel counsel meagre; they bear major burden of litigations against Centre: Parliamentary standing committee

A Parliamentary panel has described as "meagre" the fees paid to panel lawyers engaged by the Centre to represent it in various litigations across high courts and has recommended its suitable revision based on current market rates so that they remain interested and committed in their job.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel and Law in its report on demands for grants for Department of Legal Affairs in the Union Law Ministry has noted that the panel counsels, engaged all over the country by the Centre, bear the "major burden" of litigations against the central government.

"The Department (of Legal Affairs) has ...informed that it had revised the schedule of fee applicable to various categories of panel counsel in the year 2015, which is the minimum of the present market rates towards professional fee to advocates," the committee headed by BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi observed.

Read | Parliament is dysfunctional, and there’s a bid to capture judiciary: Kapil Sibal

The panel counsels conduct litigations before the high courts and tribunals and other courts.

"They bear the major burden of litigations against the central government. From the submissions made by the department, it is observed that the fees paid to these counsels are very meagre, which is much below the market rates. The last revision of their fees was done about seven years back," the report said.

It recommended to the department to revise the fees paid to the panel lawyers "suitably, considering the current market rates, so that they remain interested and committed in their jobs".

"It will also help in attracting competent lawyers for being empanelled as a panel lawyer for the central government," the committee felt.

It said besides the hike in fees, the department should issue "some sort of guidelines" for empanelment of such lawyers, so that their selection criteria and process of selection becomes transparent and rule-based.

Besides law officers, the government also engages panel counsels to conduct litigation before various courts and tribunals in the country.

The panel counsel for various high courts -- the country has 25 HCs -- are engaged by the department to represent Union of India for a particular term and their engagement is not made against any civil post.

"Presently, there is no criteria or methodology to project the required number of panel counsel for a court or tribunal," it noted.

Advocates are engaged by the department on need basis, keeping in view the size of a particular high court and number of central government litigations, it said.

Appropriate number of counsels are engaged as and when required based on submissions made by the department.