My only daughter committed suicide, as she was unable to bear the torture of her husband and her in-laws. A group of criminal lawyers of the Calcutta High Court jointly appeared before the bench, hearing the anticipatory bail petition on behalf of her in-laws. Though the bail prayer was rejected, the lawyers did not hesitate in bringing forth allegations against the character of my daughter. My family friends and relatives too have attended the proceedings. We are interested in filing a PIL against the said lawyers to get their licenses cancelled. Kindly help me with your advice.

Joginder Agarwal,
Mayfair Road, Calcutta 700019

Filing a PIL against the lawyers is not advisable in your case as the high court, in all likelihood, will not entertain such litigation. Harsh as it may seem, a lawyer is entitled to and can take recourse to such pleadings in defence of his client and cannot be debarred from doing so. However, if you feel that the lawyers conduct at a professional level were otherwise objectionable and caused undue harassment to you, you could file a formal complaint to the Bar Council of West Bengal together with particulars of the names of the lawyers and their dates of enrolment in the State Bar. Your letter should be addressed to the Bar Council of West Bengal, 2 & 3 Kiran Shankar Roy Road, Calcutta 700001. Under Section 6(c) of the Advocates Act 1961, a State Bar Council is a body corporate which can entertain and determine cases of misconduct against advocates on its roll and under section 35 of the Act, the State Bar Council can set up a disciplinary committee for hearing such a case after serving a notice of such to the advocate concerned. Orders of a disciplinary committee would include reprimand, suspending an advocate or removing his name from the state roll. There are reported decisions wherein an advocate has been held liable for making defamatory statements and scandalous charges on the mere instruction of clients and such conduct has been held to be breach of professional etiquette.

My sister, Rakhi Ghosh, had joined M/s Indus Institute of Information Management as an executive faculty member on May 27, 2003, vide a letter of appointment dated May 26, 2003. She resigned from the job on November 1, 2003, vide her resignation letter dated October 16, 2003, which was formally accepted by the institute. She is yet to receive her wages for the month of October 2003 and also the travelling expenses for the months of September and October 2003. In spite of several assurances of speedy disbursement, she is still waiting for the sum. Moreover, a number of letters were sent to the institute with copies marked to the department of information technology, department of youth services and to the chief minister of West Bengal. Please suggest ways by which she can recover her legitimate claim.

Soumya Ghosh,
Shib Shanker Mullick Lane,Calcutta 700004

Your sister should file a suit in the appropriate court having pecuniary jurisdiction against the institute for a decree of the amount due and owing to her. She should produce all relevant documents including her appointment letter specifying the terms of her appointment including monthly remuneration and other allowances. All correspondence with the institute including the letters wherein assurances for speedy disbursement were given should also be part of the documents annexed to the plaint. A money suit of this nature usually takes time to be heard and finally disposed of, so she should be prepared accordingly. As you have mentioned the term ‘wages’ it is important to clarify that under Section 2 (ii) of the Payment of Wages Act 1936, an institute of information management will not come under the definition of an ‘industrial or other establishment’, and hence, the recourse under section 15 of the said Act for delayed payment will not be available in your case.

Citi Financial Retail Services India Ltd had offered me a loan of Rs 30,014 with terms of payment by ECS from my savings bank account. I required the loan at the time of Durga Puja and I had intimated the bank agent of the same. However, the bank failed to deliver the loan amount on time in spite of having collected all the required documents along with the ECS form well in advance. After Diwali, I called the bank to cancel the said loan and asked them to return the documents. This, however, did not happen. But my savings bank account is showing deduction of ECS by Citi Financial from December 2003 at Rs 1,384 a month. I had visited the Calcutta office and notified the authorities of the same but nothing has been done as yet. Now it stands that Citi Financial is deducting ECS for a loan it never disbursed. What is my legal remedy?

Indranil Ganguly,
R.N. Tagore Road,Calcutta 700077

You could file a complaint before the Consumer District Redressal Forum against Citi Financial Retail Services India Ltd challenging their failure to deliver the loan amount within the stipulated time as well as the subsequent deduction from your savings account despite your having cancelled the loan and taking requisite steps in that regard. In the proceedings you would have to produce the relevant documents especially those showing that an amount is being deducted from your account every month from December 2003 despite instructions to the contrary. The District Forum has been constituted under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, for the purpose of providing an inexpensive and efficacious remedy to consumers relating to complaints regarding a defect in goods and/ or a deficiency of service. The jurisdiction of the District Forum extends to complaints where the value of the goods or services and the compensation, if any, claimed does not exceed Rs 5 lakh. You should keep in mind, however, that the District Forum will not admit a complaint unless it is filed within two years from the date on which the cause of action has arisen.

I am an MSc (maths) student of Annamalai University’s distance education programme since 2001. I have been failing in one paper regularly. I have correctly attempted 90 marks in the question paper but have been awarded only 20. On request, the controller of examination allowed only retotalling of marks, not even re-evaluation by another examiner. Is there any legal course open for me? If so, where and how can I move my petition?

Name and address withheld

Courts are usually reluctant to interfere in cases like this, especially where a university has its particular system/ criteria of marking and evaluating answer scripts. Further, attempting 90 marks in a paper may not necessarily mean that you have answered the part attempted correctly and should accordingly be given marks for it. If, however, you are able to show that Annamalai University is a part of or affiliated to the university of a particular state, then you can move a writ in the appropriate high court under Article 226 of the Constitution challenging the action of the controller of examinations as arbitrary and unreasonable.