PANAJI
The Fast Track Court in Panaji has issued an order directing the Offices of North and South Collectors to pay Rs 2 lakh to an advocate. The matter pertains to outstanding bills for the purchase of several copies of a book titled ‘Portuguese Civil Code 1867, Second Edition, 2020’, which is authored by the aggrieved advocate himself.
As per the Civil Suit filed against the State government last year, Adv Fernando Elgar Noronha supplied 15 copies of the book to the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records (DSLR), 38 copies to the Collector of North Goa and 42 copies to the Collector of South Goa in 2020. The book is priced at Rs 2,500.
While the DSLR promptly cleared the bills, the Collectors failed to pay and did not respond to the advocate's legal notice.
According to the petitioner, the Revenue Department had recommended the purchase of the book, and it was supplied accordingly.
“The books were received by all concerned departments without any objections and were retained by them. The Directorate of Settlement and Land Records promptly paid the bills of Rs 37,500, however, the Collectors of South Goa and North Goa have not paid the bills to date. Several reminders of the bill were sent to the Collector of North Goa and Collector of South Goa which were duly received by them,” the petition stated.
Adv Noronha further alleged that the defendant though duly served with the summons, failed to remain present and did not file any written statement, prompting him to approach the Court.
In the notice, he sought recovery of the non-paid bills along with an interest rate of 18 per cent per annum.
However, the Ad-hoc District Judge-1, Panaji, Saee Prabhudessai, noted that there was no contract specifying payment of interest and taking into consideration the nature of the transaction, she ruled that the advocate is entitled to recover the amount with interest at a rate of 6 per cent per annum from May 15, 2020, till full and final realisation.
