Lawyer cannot hold on to client papers to retrieve fee,rules HC

The Delhi High Court has ruled that if a client does not pay his lawyer his fees,the latter may go to court over the matter,but he cannot hold on to the clients case papers as a means to get the money.

The Delhi High Court has ruled that if a client does not pay his lawyer his fees,the latter may go to court over the matter,but he cannot hold on to the clients case papers as a means to get the money.

Justice S Muralidhar made it clear that while lawyers could opt for legal recourse to retrieve their fees,they will not be permitted to keep their clients documents to achieve that end. It would be erroneous on the part of any lawyer to harbour such a belief,he added.

Dismissing the petition of one such lawyer,Justice Muralidhar referred to a 2000 Supreme Court verdict which held,An advocate has no lien over the files entrusted to him by a client for unpaid fees. In fact,it has been held that refusal to return the files to the client on any ground whatsoever would amount to professional misconduct.

The court further observed that such an act would be held as deficiency of service with respect to the client,giving him the right to drag the lawyer to a consumer court.

The court was hearing a petition by a Delhi High Court lawyer in 2008,whereby he had challenged a decision of the National Consumer Commission. The apex consumer body had,in a July 2007 order,held the lawyer guilty of deficiency in service for not returning the documents of the complainant,Shakuntala Bajpai. As penalty,the lawyer was ordered to return the documents and also cough up a compensation of Rs 2,000.

The dispute between the lawyer and his client first surfaced in 2000 when Bajpai approached a consumer forum,alleging that she had entrusted the original papers to the lawyer for filing a petition in the High Court. Bajpai reportedly paid him Rs 1,000 in cash and Rs 2,500 by cheque,but she had not heard from the lawyer after that. Producing the papers,the lawyer claimed he had indeed filed the writ,but the complainant had not paid the balance fees.

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Lawyer cannot hold on to client papers to retrieve fee,rules HC

The Delhi High Court has ruled that if a client does not pay his lawyer his fees,the latter may go to court over the matter,but he cannot hold on to the clients case papers as a means to get the money.

The Delhi High Court has ruled that if a client does not pay his lawyer his fees,the latter may go to court over the matter,but he cannot hold on to the clients case papers as a means to get the money.