Ladhar to HC: Will deposit one-third of arbitration fees to Punjab govt

Jalandhar Division Commissioner S R Ladhar on Tuesday assured the Punjab and Haryana High Court that he will deposit one-third of the arbitration fees collected by him with the Punjab government.

He also assured the court that he will re-work the arbitration fees collected by him in accordance with permissible rates of fee to be charged per day, as envisaged under the Union government's circular dated October 27, 2008.

This information was submitted before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain on Tuesday.

Following this, the high court directed the state to apprise the bench regarding the head of the account, under which Ladhar be directed to deposit the extra amount of fees and one-third of the permissible fees. Ladhar, who had charged arbitration fees as per the rates determined by him, has now agreed to charge arbitration fee at the rates envisaged under the 2008 circular, which permits an arbitrator to charge Rs 500 per day, and Rs 250 per half day. The excess amount, if any, collected by him, will be deposited with the state government.

Lawyer H C Arora, the petitioner, however, told the court that other IAS officers also be directed to deposit the extra arbitration fee collected by them, along with one-third of the remaining permissible fee along with interest with the government. Responding to this, the bench observed that directions of general nature, applicable to all public servants appointed as arbitrators, will be issued on February 8 — the next date of hearing.

Earlier, the Punjab government had informed the court that vide letter dated June 20 that it had directed Ladhar not to charge any arbitration fee in lieu of arbitration work till the final decision in the matter was taken by the government.

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