THODEY Pareshan, the principal of Bundlebaaz High School, did not recognise the number on his mobile screen and cut the call. But the caller persisted. Six missed calls first thing on a Monday morning. As if he had no other work to do!
But 'Truecaller' identified the number as having emanated from 'Topimaster & Associates'. That name rang a faint bell in Thodey Pareshan's head.
The founder trustee of the chain of Bundlebaaz schools was Shri Badey Pareshan, the father of Mr Thodey Pareshan.
He had been the principal of this school earlier but relinquished charge in favour of his elder son Thodey a few years ago due to advancing age and turned his charitable attention to developing temples instead of schools. Being a believer, he believed that this was a more profitable and less taxing venture than starting educational institutions in rapidly changing times.
Thodey remembered that Badey had mentioned an 'Advocate Topimaster' many years ago. So when the mobile buzzed once again, Thodey took the call.
The voice on the line announced: "Your writ petitions are listed for final hearing this week. Please come and meet Sir immediately."
Thodey rushed to Badey's room and asked him what all this was about. Badey had just finished his morning ablutions and was looking relaxed. He told Thodey that these were cases that their educational trust had filed 25 years ago in the Humbug High Court, challenging Orders passed by a grievance committee formed by the state government to consider cases of terminated temporary employees called 'shikshan slaves'.
The grievance committee had directed the reinstatement of these slaves with full back wages and consequential benefits. Like dozens of other aggrieved managements, their educational trust too had engaged a senior counsel and got their writ petitions admitted and obtained stay Orders against the impugned Orders of the grievance committee.
Badey informed Thodey that their senior counsel had a bright young junior at that time and his name was Advocate Vishesh Topimaster. Topimaster had been engaged to be the advocate-on-record on their senior counsel's recommendation and had been paid the full lump sum fee as demanded by him.
Badey Pareshan now dug out the phone number of their senior counsel and called him. The voice at the other end informed him that he had stopped appearing in court after the Covid lockdown as his health had deteriorated.
"But Advocate Topimaster has become a senior lawyer by now. You may continue with him or opt for someone else," the senior counsel suggested.
It was under these circumstances that Principal Thodey Pareshan landed at the doorstep of Topimaster & Associates. Advocate Vishesh Topimaster at once put the principal at ease.
"I can now independently handle everything and being one of my earliest clients who came through my senior I shall charge you very reasonable lump sum fees although for all my own clients I charge much higher fees nowadays and that too per appearance," Topimaster told Thodey.
The fees quoted by Topimaster per matter were phenomenally high, thought Thodey Pareshan, nevertheless he left the chambers with a promise to "revert" after consulting Badey Pareshan.
Badey Pareshan could not believe his ears when he heard what Topimaster had demanded. "What! He wants more than ten times for each matter than what his own senior had charged for the whole bunch of cases up to the admission stage. Let us take back our papers and find someone else who won't fleece us."
Thodey Pareshan had no option but to convey Badey Pareshan's opinion to Advocate Vishesh Topimaster. Topimaster immediately agreed to give a special ten percent 'loyalty discount' to Bundlebaaz Educational Trust.
But Badey Pareshan had by now checked the case status online on Humbug High Court's website and discovered that on previous occasions whenever these cases had been listed 'for directions', the record indicated: "None present for petitioners".
For the old-fashioned Badey Pareshan, this was tantamount to negligence if not misconduct by Advocate Topimaster. Hence, his resolve to withdraw the briefs from Advocate Topimaster became stronger.
Once again, Thodey Pareshan visited the office of Topimaster & Associates and asked for the return of the Bundlebaaz Trust briefs along with no-objection certificates to enable them to engage someone else.
Badey Pareshan had instructed Thodey to pay whatever Advocate Topimaster would demand for returning their briefs and giving the no-objection certificates. But Thodey Pareshan had not bargained for a sermon by Topimaster.
Vishesh Topimaster had this to say: "Every lawyer looks upon an admitted case in hand awaiting final hearing just as a gardener would look at a fruit-bearing tree he has planted. There is a legitimate expectation that the seed he has sown will grow into a big tree and in due course bear fruits that he can enjoy.
"What you are doing now is cutting down the tree of my legitimate expectations. Therefore, you are liable to pay my legitimate charges."
The manner in which Advocate Vishesh Topimaster computed these so-called legitimate charges for returning the papers of a client who did not want to continue soon became the stuff of legend in the Humbug High Court.
Even the bloodsucking solicitors of Humbug City's biggest law-firm 'Shylock & Dieofshock' had not dreamt of this manner of billing prior to returning a client's briefs.
Topimaster pointed to a corner in his office where heaps of briefs and files were lying bunched in bundles. He then told Thodey Pareshan: "I will charge you a lump sum for looking after your papers for 25 years but as you can see your files are occupying four square feet of my office space. I pay ₹200 per square foot per month to the landlord for this office.
"Thus, ₹800 per month is payable on account of the space occupied in my office by your briefs. That works out to ₹9,600 only per annum. Multiply this by 25 years. It works out to ₹2.40 lakh. Just pay me that and take away your papers.
"I shall then give my 'no objection' on the vakalatnamas of the new lawyers you may choose to engage."
Thodey Pareshan was taken aback and said he would discuss this with Badey Pareshan.
Badey Pareshan: "His quote for appearing in our matters was 10 times more than these so-called 'storage charges'.
"Therefore, it is much cheaper to pay him his office rent for four square feet and retrieve our papers as soon as possible."
Thodey Pareshan: "Should I try to haggle or bargain with Advocate Topimaster?"
Badey Pareshan: "No! Just do as I say, Thodey. Pay him, collect our briefs, take his no-objection certificates and run away from there as quickly as possible."
Thodey Pareshan: "Why? If we are paying his rent, what is the fear?"
Badey Pareshan: "This Topimaster seems to have mastered all the billing skills of the Bar. You get out of there before he demands part-payment of his electricity bills of the past 25 years for keeping our matters in cold storage at his office with his old O-General AC doing duty for us."
Read more Antics from the Adalat here.
If you love the smell of paper along with spicy satire and the ring of laughter, Raju Moray's new book Tales of Law & Laughter is out now.