Jaipur: The National Health Mission (NHM) paid its advocate, Manju Jain, after 15 years for contesting 84 cases, leading to the withdrawal and dismissal of her writ petition in the Rajasthan High Court Monday.According to the petitioner’s counsel, Jain was appointed as counsel for NHM in 2010 and contested 84 cases for the Mission in 2011. The cases were decided on Sept 20, 2011. She raised her bill on Oct 17, 2011, but it was not paid.
Citing “gross inaction by the govt and the NRHM” in paying her professional fees, she filed a writ petition in the high court in 2019. For nearly five years, the govt did not respond, prompting the court to impose a cost of Rs 5,000 for not filing a reply despite a last opportunity.The govt later told the court that NHRM, Govt of Rajasthan decided in 2011 that the 84 cases would be treated as one case and that Jain would be paid accordingly. It also stated that even that amount was not paid for 14 years.NHM sanctioned Rs 5,000 on Nov 6, 2025 against the 84 cases. The court then ordered the personal presence of the director, NHM, on Dec 6, 2025 and Feb 2, 2026, after taking note of the stand that a counsel would be paid Rs 5,000 for contesting 84 cases.“In view of stiff stand taken by high court, National Health Mission satisfied the outstanding fees of the counsel by making a payment of Rs 4.2lakh after 15 years on Feb 2, 2026, which led to disposal of writ petition, bringing the curtain down on a decade-and-half-old dispute of entitlement of professional fees,” said counsel for petitioner Sunil Samdaria.Justice Ganesh Ram Meena said the petitioner’s counsel sought permission to withdraw the writ petition as the relief had been granted. “Accordingly, this writ petition is dismissed as withdrawn,” he said.
