IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.11358 of 2002 RANA BHUPENDRA NR. SINGH Versus THE BIHAR STATE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING BOARD ----------- 4. 30.4.2009 Heard Mr. Ram Suresh Roy, learned Senior counsel for the petitioner and Mr. B.K.Singh Chauhan, learned counsel for dissolved Bihar State Agriculture Marketing Board. Normally any person, private or a statutory authority is expected to abide by its own promise. Infact if he fails to do so a lawyer comes to his rescue but what would happen if such a promise made to the lawyer is sought to be resiled by that person, private or statutory. The remedy of course can be one under law of torts or law of contract but then this Court cannot close its eyes that the order of engagement, Annexure 1, dated 11.9.2000 engaging senior counsel as also junior counsel for conducting a specific case of the Board had no riders and had clearly fixed the amount of fees. In such a case it was not possible for the Board to take any other view, especially when the fees of the senior 2 counsel has been paid as per decision contained in Annexure 1, the order dated 11.9.2000. In that view of the matter, the fees of the junior counsel should have been automatically paid on the rate prescribed in the said order because he could not be treated as a junior counsel or a panel counsel otherwise retained by the Board for conducting its chain of usual cases. In the further opinion of this Court the letter of the senior counsel dated 5.9.2000 by itself had contained a condition of engagement of a junior counsel of his choice by naming the petitioner and this was accepted by the Board by also fixing his fees as is again evident from the order contained in Annexure 1. If all these facts are admitted, the Board’s action in scaling down the fees of the petitioner by Annexure 3 seems to be wholly unreasonable. This Court, however, would not express any final opinion on this and would again remit the matter back to the Administrator of the dissolved Bihar State 3 Agricultural Marketing Board, who is directed to only reexamine the matter in the light of Annexure 1, process and pass the final bill of the petitioner within a period of three months strictly in terms of Annexure 1. With the aforementioned observation, this application stands disposed of. (Mihir Kumar Jha,J.) Surendra/