New Delhi. The Central Government has given a big relief to the lawyers representing the government in the courts and has increased their fees. This amendment has been made after almost 11 years. The Union Law Ministry has also issued a notification in this regard on February 5, under which government lawyers of various categories will now get much higher remuneration than before.
According to the notification, ‘A’ category lawyers appearing for the government during regular appeals and final hearings will now be paid Rs 21,600 per day per case. Whereas ‘B’ and ‘C’ category lawyers will get Rs 14,400 per day. Earlier, ‘A’ category lawyers used to get Rs 13,500 per day and ‘B’ and ‘C’ category lawyers used to get Rs 9,000 per day. This amendment in the fees of government lawyers has been made for the first time since October 2015. The Law Ministry has clarified that the increase is not limited to regular appeals and final hearings, but fees for other types of cases, meetings (conferences) and consultations with various central ministries have also been revised. Apart from this, the fees of lawyers appearing in Delhi and state capitals have also been increased.
A media report quoting a senior law ministry official said that this decision has been taken in view of inflation, rising expenses related to the legal profession and the need to retain qualified professionals. According to the official, there was a demand from the government lawyers for a long time to increase the fees, which has now been fulfilled.
Former Union Law Secretary and currently Member Secretary of the Law Commission, Anju Rathi Rana has welcomed this decision. Making a post on the social media platform ‘X’, he said that the notification of fee revision for central government lawyers has now come into effect. He said that the decision in this regard was taken during his tenure and it was a pending matter for more than a decade. He said that it is important to retain qualified and talented lawyers to effectively represent the Central Government in the courts, and this fee hike is an important step in that direction. Due to this decision, there is an atmosphere of satisfaction and enthusiasm among government lawyers across the country.