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PETITIONER: VIJAYAWADA-GUNTUR-TENALI URBANDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY & ORS.

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: MOVVA RANGA RAO & ORS.

DATE OF JUDGMENT:       22/04/1996

BENCH: RAMASWAMY, K. BENCH: RAMASWAMY, K. G.B. PATTANAIK (J)

CITATION:  JT 1996 (5)   427        1996 SCALE  (4)316

ACT:

HEADNOTE:

JUDGMENT:                          O R D E R      Leave granted.      The  only   question  is:  whether  the  respondent  is entitled to  a minimum  fee of  Rs.2,000/- in  each  of  the reference cases  in which  the reference Court has certified it to  be the  fee payable to the respondent? The respondent appeared as  a counsel for the appellant on land acquisition reference initially  as  Government  Pleader  and  after  he ceased as  such, he  filed  Vakalatnama  on  behalf  of  the appellant and  appeared as  private counsel. On the basis of the memorandum  of costs  supplied  to  the  respondent,  he claimed the  amount from the appellant but the appellant has disputed the  liability. On a reference made to the Advocate General  of   Andhra  Pradesh,   the  Advocate  General  has certified that  the fee  claimed  is  correct  one  and  the respondent is  entitled to the same. However, the respondent being not  satisfied  with  it,  insisted  upon  the  proper fixation of  the fee  payable to  him. Since  the appellants have not  been making  payment  of  the  fee  to  which  the respondent is  entitled, the  respondent has  filed the writ petition in  the High  Court. The Division Bench of the High Court  in   W.A.No.590/94,  by   judgment  and  order  dated September 5, 1995 has held that once the court has fixed the Fee, the  appellants are  bound to  pay the  same  and  they cannot go behind the fee fixed by the Court.      The High  Court seems  to have proceeded on the premise that under the Advocates’ Fees Rules the Court fixes the fee and that parties are bound by the same by holding that it is a contractual relation. There is a distinction in payment of the fee  between the  private counsel and the State counsel. As far  as the  State counsel  are concerned,  their fee  is regulated by  the rules  prescribed by  the State Government and thereunder the Government counsel is entitled to the fee or the  fee fixed  by the  Court. In  the latter  event, the Government is  bound to  pay the fee. As regards the private counsel, the  High Court  of A.P.  has made the rules, viz.,

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Advocates Fees  Rules. The  same rules  are in  vogue as  on date.      Rule  8(9)   prescribes  fee   in   other   cases.   It contemplates prescribing  the fee  in land acquisition cases envisaging that  "in Land  Acquisition Cases  as between the Collector and  the claimants,  the fee  shall be  5% on  the amount claimed  in excess of the award subject to minimum of Rs.100/- and  a maximum  of  Rs.2,000/-.  As  between  rival claimants, the  fee shall  be calculated  as for suits under Rule 4(II).      It would,  therefore, be  clear that in cases where the fees is  to be  fixed  on  the  basis  of  the  claim  on  a reference, the  court has to calculate the fee on the amount claimed in  the  reference  and  awarded  under  Section  26 subject to  a minimum  of Rs.100/-  at the rate of 5% on the amount claimed  by the  claimants and  the  maximum  thereof would be  Rs.2,000/-. It  would thus  be clear that in every case, necessarily,  it would  not be  Rs.2,000/-. It depends upon the valuation of the claim awarded under Section 26 and the amount  to be  calculated varies between the minimum and the maximum.  If the  amount claimed  is far in excess of 5% and fee  calculated exceeds  2,000/- the  court has to limit the fee  to Rs.2,000/-  in spite  of the  amount awarded, it would secure  fee of  the advocates exceeding Rs.2,000/-. It does not  per se  yield to the respondent that in each case, counsel would be paid Rs.2,000/-. In every case, the maximum of Rs.2,000/- should not be required to be determined.      Shri Mohan,  learned senior counsel for the respondent, undertakes to get all the decrees and the claims made in the decrees settled  and he also assures to sit with the counsel for the  appellant and both would calculate the fee to which in each  of the  case the  respondent would  be entitled to. They are given four weeks’ time for making the calculations. After the  calculations are  worked out,  the amount  may be notified to  the Registry  and the same will be incorporated in the order.      The appeal is accordingly disposed of. No costs.