Kumbakonam fire compensation row: Questions arise over lawyers’ integrity

A division bench of justices R Mahadevan and V Parthiban, besides ordering a CBCID probe into the incident, had suspended the said advocate from practice. But the incident has left a bad taste among the litigant public. None could digest the fact that the said advocate S Tamilarasan, in whom the hapless victims had reposed their trust, had chosen to allegedly cheat them by using blank cheques he had obtained from his clients through threat and coercion.

The accident on July 16, 2004, had left as many as 94 children dead and 18 others injured. Their parents, on coming together under the Kumbakonam School Fire Tragedy Victims Association, had hired Tamilarasan after paying Rs. 3,500 each, totaling around Rs 3.5 lakh, as his fees and expenses for representing them in the case.

The plea reached its finality only in 2016, with a decision on the final award being made. But to the utter shock of the claimants, out of the money that was deposited, as much as Rs 2.30 lakh was deducted from each of the savings bank accounts totalling Rs 2 crore. On enquiry, it came to light that the amounts were transferred to the accounts of Tamilarasan, his wife Jayanthi and daughter Ajitha.

Thereafter, the claimants had moved an application in the High Court stating that Tamilarasan had illegally and fraudulently transferred the money, thereby causing wrongful loss to them. On the other hand, senior counsel S Prabakaran and G Mohana Krishnan, appearing for Tamilarasan, contended that the alleged transferred amounts were only professional fees.

But the division bench, on ascertaining the modus operandi, as supported by the copies of the passbooks of the victims, said, “It is manifest that the said counsel had committed fraud, breach of trust and illegality, which offences are attracted by the Indian Penal Code.”

Also, noting that the court had given sufficient opportunities to the said counsel to pay the compensation amount to all the victims, the bench held, “It is rather miserable that till date, he has not chosen to make use of the indulgence shown by this court.”

The bench also directed the CB-CID to attach the bank accounts and properties of the said counsel and his wife and other relatives, in whose accounts the money has been transferred and the said attachment shall be in force till the entire money is recovered.

Another shocker that emerged in the bitter episode was that Tamilarasan was represented by a former vice-president of the Bar Council of India (BCI) and the other was the president of the Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA). They had relentlessly argued that the money withdrawn through the blank cheques was the fee meant for conducting the case and obtaining the due compensation.

Senior counsel P Wilson, unable to comprehend that an advocate had resorted to such tactics to obtain his fees, said, “It is high time the BCI got serious and acted in earnest to weed out such elements who end up bringing a bad name to advocates at large. It is quite unfortunate that the advocates, part of the forums who ought to take action, were appearing on behalf of the lawyer who had allegedly committed a fraud on hapless victims.”

It is said that the relationship between a lawyer and client is a contractual one. Lawyers have legal obligations towards their client, but there are also important ethical principles governing the way they should conduct themselves towards their clients. In fact, not long ago, obtaining compensation for death in road accidents was considered herculean. Besides the tragedy, the maze of litigation before the compensation comes through usually turns out to be a case of ‘too little too late’.

Worst, after going through all the hassles what remains would be next to nothing as the advocate concerned would have taken away a major portion of the compensation as fees.

Now, the situation has largely improved after the High Court in 2015 passed an order to ensure that the awarded compensation was directly deposited in the bank account of the victim/claimant by way of NEFT transfer. Thereafter, in 2016, the High Court, through another order, directed total implementation of digital transfer of the compensation amount awarded to the claimants/victims directly to their bank accounts to ensure they had complete control over the money awarded to them.

But in this case, though the amounts were directly deposited in the accounts of the claimants, the said advocate had used the blank cheques he had obtained from the claimants, who had failed to suspect his designs.

Change India director A Narayanan said, “It is unfortunate that the BCI and the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are yet to act. Even the High Court has suspended the said advocate based on prima facie fraud surfacing in the case. The said advocate should be removed for his unpardonable act of robbing hapless victims who have been through the tragedy of losing someone and that too a child.”

“A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns,” is a popular quote by Mario Puzo. However, it is the fervent hope of one and all that advocates would bother to abide by international principles on conduct for the legal profession, which seeks to combine a continuous update on legal developments with service to clients, respect for the courts and the legitimate aspiration to maintain a reasonable standard of living.