Meghalaya: The ongoing standoff between the local bar and the state’s top law officer escalated sharply after two prominent legal bodies accused Advocate General (AG) Amit Kumar of charging an astronomical ₹1.5 lakh per appearance in a district-level Commercial Court case. The total billings for this single matter allegedly exceeded ₹1 crore, directly contradicting the AG's previous public claims.
During a joint press conference, the High Court of Meghalaya Bar Association and the Shillong Bar Association produced leaked invoices obtained from an anonymous whistleblower.
\According to Bar Association Secretary General Kishore Gautam, the documents expose massive billing from 2021 to 2023. The ₹1.5 lakh per-hearing fee is nearly seven times the official government-approved rate of ₹20,000 for High Court appearances. The bar leaders also pointed to another arbitration case where Kumar reportedly charged ₹1.40 lakh for one day’s appearance against a prescribed fee of just ₹11,000.
The disclosures fly in the face of Kumar’s September 3 press briefing, where he categorically asserted that he strictly adhered to the official fee cap. "The writing is on the wall. It is very clear that he has charged more than he is supposed to," Gautam stated, questioning why the state government cleared these payments without any institutional auditing or accountability.
Meanwhile, bar leaders accused the government of shielding the AG, noting that prior Right to Information (RTI) requests on legal expenditures were blocked under Section 8 exemptions. The law department has now sought a 15-day extension expiring in November to obtain the AG's personal consent before making disclosures. The bar associations stated they hold additional invoices but will wait for the final RTI outcomes before approaching anti-corruption or higher monitoring authorities.