With no traffic protocol, PM goes to school for cleanliness drive
New Delhi, Sep 15 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday travelled in normal Delhi traffic, without the customary protocol, and participated in a cleanliness drive at a school, volunteering for service.
"The Prime Minister travelled to, and from the school, in normal traffic, and without customary protocol. No special traffic arrangements were made for his visit," an official statement said.
The no-frills-security drive was a big surprise. "We were not briefed about the Prime Minister's visit. The traffic plied normal and there was no special arrangement," said a traffic police officer.
Shortly after launching "Swachhata Hi Seva" movement, the Prime Minister interacted with common people and promenent personalities from diverse fields through video conferencing at 17 locations.
The Prime Minister then travelled to the Babasaheb Ambedkar Higher Secondary School at the busy Rani Jhansi Road in central Delhi.
He offered floral tributes to a statue of Ambedkar and participated in the cleanliness drive. He also interacted with the students and exhorted them to adopt cleanliness.
This school campus was bought by Ambedkar in 1946 with an aim to advance the educational, social and economic well-being of the Scheduled Caste community.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said:"Modi is a humble prime minister and cares for "people. We have seen in the past also that he broke protocol to mingle with people," he said.
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‘Pay worker before sweat dries’: Madras HC invokes prophet’s teaching to settle lawyer’s dues
Madurai: Invoking the teachings of Prophet Muhammad to emphasise principles of fairness in labour jurisprudence, the Madras High Court has directed the Madurai City Municipal Corporation to settle the unpaid legal fees of a former standing counsel. Justice G.R. Swaminathan, in an order passed on Saturday, referred to the prophetic principle, “pay the worker before his sweat dries”, observing that this tenet is a facet of fairness eminently applicable to service and labour law.
The court was hearing a plea filed by P. Thirumalai, who served as the standing counsel for the Madurai City Municipal Corporation for over 14 years, from 1992 to 2006. Thirumalai contended that the civic body had failed to pay outstanding dues amounting to Rs 13.05 lakh for his representation in approximately 818 cases before the Madurai District Courts. The current petition was filed after the Corporation rejected a substantial part of his claim following a previous court direction to consider his representation.
Addressing the practical difficulties faced by the petitioner, who stated he could not afford to engage a clerk to obtain certified copies of the 818 judgments to substantiate his work, Justice Swaminathan devised a pragmatic solution. The court permitted the former counsel to approach the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) with a list of cases. The DLSA has been directed to procure the certified copies within two months, with the costs to be borne by the corporation and later deducted from the petitioner’s final settlement.
While the court acknowledged the Corporation's stance that fee bills must be in order, it ordered the civic body to settle the dues within two months of receiving the records from the DLSA.
However, citing the petitioner’s 18-year delay in challenging the non-payment, the court ruled that the settlement would be made without interest.
Beyond the specific relief granted to the petitioner, the single-judge bench made strong observations regarding the administration of legal fees and public funds. Justice Swaminathan termed the petitioner’s claim a "pittance" compared to the number of his appearances and expressed concern over the disparity in payments within the legal field. He noted that while "scandalously high amounts" are often paid to certain senior counsels and law officers by government and quasi-government bodies, others struggle to receive basic dues. The court observed that good governance requires public funds to be drawn on a measured basis and not distributed capriciously to a favoured few.
The Judge also flagged the "embarrassment" caused by the high number of Additional Advocate Generals (AAGs) in the state, noting that the appointment of nearly a dozen officers leads to work being allotted unnecessarily. He criticized the frequent practice of government counsel seeking adjournments on the pretext that an engaged AAG is appearing elsewhere. Justice Swaminathan expressed hope that such practices would cease in the Madurai Bench and that the Additional Advocate Generals would "turn a new leaf" from 2026.
