COVID-19: Financially struggling Lawyer starts selling vegetables outside High Court

A lawyer who had been struggling to make both ends meet due to the coronavirus pandemic decided to sell vegetables in Odisha. The lawyer had also approached the Odisha State Bar Council (OSBC) for financial help but his pleas fell on deaf ears. 

Identified as Sapan Kumar Pal, the lawyer had been struggling financially as courts across the country were shut down in view of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Pal said that he had saved up all his savings amid the lockdown and had to take a loan worth Rs 1,000 from his friend to start selling the vegetables. Pal said that he decided to sell vegetables outside the office of the bar council as he wanted to send a strong message. 

Pal told The Times of India, "Besides, this way we want to send across a message to the state bar council that if they continue to delay in providing financial assistance, we will have no option but to sell vegetables. "

Lawyer practising since 2012 

Pal has been practising in Odisha high court for the last 8 years. He said that in April, the council had announced that it will provide help to advocates who have been practising for over 10 years. 

Pal said that the council had mentioned that help will be provided from the Odisha State Bar Council Advocates' Welfare Corpus Fund. Even after 2 months, no help was provided to the advocates. 

JK Samantasinghar, OSBC secretary said that a total of 15,000 applications has been received from lawyers of different bar associations across Odisha. He added that the completion of the process has been delayed due to a shortage of staff due to the pandemic. He said that a total of Rs 32 lakh has been collected by the Corpus Fund. 

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