Accounting differences at the root of BEST-law firm spat
The unseemly spat between legal firm Crawford Bayley and the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Understanding (BEST) shows no signs of subsiding.
By Ashish Kumar Mishra, TNN |
MUMBAI: The unseemly spat between legal firm Crawford Bayley and the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Understanding (BEST) shows no signs of subsiding.
Even after a week, both parties cling to their positions, but one thing is now clear: The irreconcilable differences between BEST general manager Uttam Khobragade and its solicitors over irregularities in legal charges are linked to an internal accounting procedure at BEST.
On November 23, Mr Khobragade had alleged that Crawford Bayley had not presented bills to the tune of Rs 51 lakh, despite taking an advance for over Rs 90 lakh. In its response, Crawford Bayley had maintained that it did not have such a high outstanding amount with their client, with whom they had conducted business for over 70 years.
It now transpires that Mr Khobragade may have overlooked a crucial fact: The BEST’s accounts department might not have reconciled the outstanding amount in Crawford Bayley’s name with its own legal department. The procedure was simple: Every time Crawford Bayley was asked to represent BEST on a legal case, it would take an advance for any expenses that would come up during the tenure of the case.
This would be squared off once the law firm presented the final bills to BEST’s legal department after the case got over. The legal department would, in turn, clear these bills and forward them to the accounts department. In some cases, bills would get bunched up with the legal department and not reach the accounts department. Hence, the ledger accounts would show a higher balance.
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Explains an accounts executive from BEST, “Bills submitted by solicitors are dealt with the legal department while our ledgers show balances in the form of advances made to the parties. Thus, the chances of different balances with the accounts department and legal department cannot be ruled out and may have been the cause of such confusion.”Crawford Bayley’s own records show that the outstanding amount is far lower. “The advances received by us during the period March ’05 to September ’06 amounts to only Rs 3,22,000 which is nowhere close to the general manager’s claims of Rs 90 lakh,” said DB Engineer, senior partner, Crawford Bayley.
Mr Engineer further added, “Bills are regularly submitted to BEST as and when matters get over and the pending advances in our books, if any would be in respect of on-going matters for which bills have not yet been raised.”
When asked by ET to clarify his position on the matter, Mr Khobragade maintained that the cumulative outstanding amount (obtained from ledgers of accounts department) up to September ’06 in the name of Crawford Bayley stood at Rs 51,07,242.
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