The Bar Council of India (BCI) on Tuesday sought the intervention of PM Narendra Modi & Chief Ministers of all states seeking financial assistance for young & financially stressed lawyers across the country in the wake of coronavirus.
"The Bar Council of India (BCI) would like to make a fervent & urgent request to your good selves to kindly make a provision for providing a minimum subsistence allowance of Rs 20,000 per month for young & not financially well off advocates, who are staying & practicing in the country," Bar Council of India (BCI) said in a letter addressed to the senior leaders.
The council said that the entire country is passing through difficult times owing to the menace of coronavirus & all the professions except those providing essential services have gone into lockdown.
"However, advocates & courts are still almost functioning albeit in a limited & restrictive mode where important matters are being heard with only advocates of both sides, besides the Judge, being present to argue," the Bar Council of India (BCI) said.
"It is only a handful of 10 per cent advocates in the country who can be comfortably stated to be in a position to survive & subsist without any earning during this time of crisis," it added.
The Bar Council of India (BCI) said that work & earning opportunities have ceased for lawyers, who it said earn & live by the day or earnings of the week.
"Many young, & not financially well off or needy advocates are finding it exceedingly difficult to make ends meet. It is a question of keeping themselves & their families alive, by providing them with basic food & taking care of there medicinal & health needs," the council said adding that the families of many advocates have come to the stage of starvation.
This comes as courts in several states have limited or restricted its functioning while lockdown & curfew have been imposed in several places across the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
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