JUDGMENT :

ASHOK BHUSHAN, J.

Leave granted.

2. The appellants, four insurance companies are aggrieved by the judgment dated 09.12.2016 of the Punjab & Haryana High Court passed in a Public Interest Litigation being Writ Petition CWP No. 6626 of 2015, issuing certain directions regarding payment of fee to its empanelled advocates.

3. Brief facts of the case resulting into the judgment of the Division Bench are:-

A FAO No. 2604 of 2013 – Rajesh Vs. Parmod & Anr. was filed by an injured of a motor accident, claiming compensation. While hearing the FAO, the learned Single Judge noticed that in spite of issue of notice of motion, none had appeared on behalf of the insurance company, i.e. United India Insurance Co. Ltd. Learned Single Judge in the aforesaid FAO passed an order for treating the issue as of vital public importance and registering a separate writ petition in that regard. It is useful to extract the order dated 12.09.2014 passed by the learned Single Judge:-

“……………………………….26 Standing Counsel representing four Insurance Companies (1. United India Insurance Co. Ltd.; 2. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd.; 3. New India Assurance Co. Ltd. and 4. National Insurance Co. Ltd.) appeared before t