PIL moves to SC seeking uniform national level scheme for lawyers amid lockdown

A petition has been filed by Advocate Abhinav Ramkrishna in the SC seeking formulation of Uniform National Level Scheme for lawyers as they are facing financial crisis amid lockdown.

New Delhi:A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking formulation of Uniform National Level Scheme to deal with the financial crisis which the advocates are facing these days due to not functioning of the regular courts.

It also seeks orders to strike down all the conditions put up by various bar councils relating to years of practice, age and non-extension of welfare scheme's benefit to those who are accessible to income tax as arbitrary.

It also seeks directions to the Bar Council of India and various states to furnish their welfare fund with which they claim to be helping the distressed advocates and immediately devise a scheme to help the needy advocates financially.

The petition has been filed by Advocate Abhinav Ramkrishna because the advocates who used to earn on daily basis from cases are helpless now with courts shut amid the coronavirus lockdown.

The petitioner objecting to the condition that if an advocate is accessible to income tax then he/she won't be entitled to welfare scheme, contended that it is not a reasonable classification and there should have been a bracket of annual income and the scheme should have been extended to even those who are paying taxes.

Raising objections over-treating the welfare amount given, as a loan, the petitioner said it was against a welfare act and also insulted the needy lawyers.

Condition of practice less than 10 years was also criticised by the petitioner saying that economic condition did not necessarily depend upon the experience.

"State Bar councils who though have formulated the scheme, invited the applications and have yet not disbursed the amount or scrutinised the application or even after scrutiny have not disbursed the amount or have not reached to the conclusion or figure what is to be disbursed, it is humbly submitted delaying the same is violation of Article 22 of the Constitution," added the PIL.

He also pointed that state bar council of Bihar and Jharkhand have yet not devised any scheme till date to assist the needy lawyers.

The petitioner said that like all the fingers are not same, similarly, all the lawyers are also not self-sufficient to overcome the present economic crisis.

To help the advocates financially, the bar councils are providing with the financial aid but they have certain conditions based on which the amount is distributed.