Cauvery dispute cost State Rs 33 cr as legal fee

The Cauvery water dispute has cost Karnataka nearly Rs 33 crore charged by counsels representing the State.

In a written reply to BJP members Y A Narayanaswamy, Minister for Water Resources M B Patil said in the Legislative Council here on Thursday that the total expenditure till June 2013 was Rs 32. 91 crore, which includes payment made to the advocates generals. “The fees also include travel expenses and boarding charges,” Patil added.
The State paid three senior counsels at Supreme Court more than Rs 21.61 crore. Senior Counsel Anil Diwan was paid the highest (Rs 12.77 crore), followed by Fali Nariman (Rs 4.57 crore) and S S Javali (Rs 4.26 crore).

 Among other advocates, Mohan Katarki was paid Rs 3.86 crore, S P Singh Rs 2.53 crore and Brijesh Kalappa Rs. 66.97 lakh. N C Sharma has been paid Rs 51.20 lakh followed by Ranavir Singh Rs 28.94 lakh and Sanjay Hegde Rs 21.85 lakh.
The advocates general, as per the minister’s reply, have been paid more than Rs 1.54  crore.

Among them, A N Jayaram was paid the highest (Rs 76.05 lakh), followed by S Vijay Shankar (Rs 44.98 lakh), B V Acharya (Rs 8.88 lakh) and B T Parthasarathy Rs 8.55 lakh.

Earlier, in February 2013, the then Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai had stated that the State government had spent Rs 7.55 crore as advocates’ fees and other court expenses since 2007.
DH News Service