Turbulence in A-I over bills

And for this work, the Mumbai-based firm slapped a bill of Rs 1.43 lakh on Air India, on April 29, 2003.

Sources say A-I has a full-fledged legal department with qualified law officers earning fat salaries who can handle legal work. But wasteful legal expenditure with kickbacks is the norm. A total of 87 caveats were filed in the Bombay High Court and in the City Civil Court. Kini and Co. says the bill covers its ‘‘professional charges for drafting, filing, settling and finalising’’ caveats against 29 parties at the rate of Rs 1,500 each.

General manager (legal) T.N. Kumar and senior manager (finance) Milan Shah disagree. The airline cannot pay the bill, they say, as caveats are not included in the schedule of fees that’s part of the contract with the law firm.

The officers agree that the caveats were probably filed anticipating that the Indian Pilots’ Guild would seek an injunction. But filing caveats is mere clerical work, they say.