COVID-19: Financial Aid of ₹5000 each granted to 16,448 'Advocates in Need' until now, BCD informs Delhi HC

On Wednesday, the Bar Council of Delhi informed the Delhi High Court that financial assistance of ₹5,000/- each has been granted to 16,448 Advocates in Need, an amount totalling to ₹8.22 crores in order to deal with the crisis situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

BCI has provided the information in a PIL seeking a direction to be issued to the Advocate Welfare Fund Trust to provide ex-gratia payments to Advocates in financial distress in wake of COVID19.

It has been told to a division bench comprising of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan that the process of providing financial assistance is still on. BCD Chairman, Mr KC Mittal, in the Status Report, further submitted that the Indigent Committee of the Council will be soon holding a meeting to consider the applications of Advocates in distress from COVID19, so that financial assistance can be released to their respective families for medical and other facilities. Money has been disbursed mainly from 'general funds' of the Council by encashing the FDs.

The BCD highlighted that the Delhi Govt didn't provide money for medical and term insurance of Advocates for the year 2019-20, for which budgetary allocation has already been made, further adding that if the Advocates would have been provided insurance policies, it would have big help in mitigating the present crisis.

While telling that there are still more than 62,000 advocates who are being deprived of the benefit of Insurance policies for which the Council has decided to avail appropriate remedy, it stated that the donations can also be released from advocates who can afford such contributions.

It has been mentioned to Court:

'It may be appropriate to collect donations from various advocates who can afford. In order to avoid overlapping and misuse of money, the same maybe uniformly applied to extend financial and medical support in genuine and appropriate cases.'