Advocate General claims lawyer Kishore Gautam benefited from failed arbitration cases
Advocate General Amit Kumar denied allegations of excessive fees and called the claims a personal vendetta.
Advocate General Amit Kumar has stated that lawyer Kishore Ch. Gautam was a beneficiary in three failed arbitration cases involving companies, according to a report by Meghalaya Monitor on Saturday.
The Advocate General responded to allegations made by Gautam and other lawyers on October 30, who claimed Kumar charged Rs 1,50,000 per appearance in Commercial Court against a Rs 20,000 schedule. Kumar described these allegations as false and incorrect.
Kumar said the attacks on his office appear to serve the interests of companies that had their corruption-related blacklisting defended by the state. He added that the legal challenges are a personal vendetta disguised as concern for public money.
Regarding the fees, Kumar explained that the 2018 order fixing standard rates does not cover the complex arbitrations involving M/s BSC-C&C JV, M/s BSCPL Infrastructure Ltd, and M/s Marbaniang Projects Pvt. Ltd. He noted that for such work, fees are decided by the Law Department.
The Advocate General stated that the arbitration cases involved significant financial stakes, with claims of approximately Rs 1,588 crore made against the state. He noted that the BSC C&C JV case alone involved a contract value that rose to Rs 2,406.46 crore.
Kumar maintained that his fees for these matters were disclosed in writing at the start and were approved by the appropriate government authorities.