Advocates' fees as costs are regulated for recovery from the adversary, not the private fee contract between client and lawyer.

Rules framed under Article 227 of the Constitution, read with Section 34(1A) of the Advocates Act, regulate only the fees recoverable as costs from the adversary, not the private fee payable by a client to his advocate. The High Court rules of 1990 were confined by their text and enabling provisions to taxation or regulation of costs in proceedings, including fees payable as costs for the opposing advocate. Because no statute was shown to authorise fixation of client-to-advocate fees, the challenge to a separate fee structure failed, and the circulars prescribing that structure were not struck down.

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Issues: Whether the High Court rules governed the fee payable by clients to their advocates before the Debts Recovery Tribunal, or whether they were confined to regulating the fee recoverable as costs from the adversary.

Analysis: The Rules of 1990 were framed under Article 227 of the Constitution of India read with Section 34(1A) of the Advocates Act, 1961 and Section 27 of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879. The text of Section 34(1A) confines the High Court's rule-making power to fixing and regulating, by taxation or otherwise, the fees payable as costs by any party in respect of the fees of his adversary's advocate. The rules themselves stated that they governed the fee payable by the adversary in subordinate courts, which showed that the regulatory field was the calculation of costs recoverable in proceedings and not the private fee contract between advocate and client. The challenge therefore failed because no rule or law was shown authorising the High Court to fix the fee payable by clients to their advocates.

Conclusion: The High Court rules did not control the fee payable by clients to advocates and only governed fee recoverable as costs from the adversary.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition failed on merits and the circulars prescribing a separate fee structure were not struck down.

Ratio Decidendi: Rules framed under Article 227 and Section 34(1A) of the Advocates Act, 1961 regulate only advocate's fees recoverable as costs from the adversary unless a statute expressly authorises fixation of the fee payable by the client.

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