The Chhattisgarh High Court has issued notice
to the State of Chhattisgarh, the Bar Council of India and the Chattisgarh
State Bar Council on a plea seeking monthly stipend for junior advocates.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Arup Kumar
Goswami and Justice Goutham Chourdiya issued notice returnable within 10 days
on April 13. The petition was
filed by Advocates Sana Memon and Siddhant Das praying that suitable rules be
framed in the State of Chhattisgarh for granting financial help to Junior
Advocates by way of monthly stipend. The petitioners pointed out that similar
rules have been framed in the states of Jharkhand, Pondicherry, Andhra
Pradesh, Kerala for payment of stipend to Junior Advocates.
The petitioners pointed out that advocates have
to pay around Rs 16,000/- to the State Bar Council for enrollment. However,
there is no provision to support the welfare of junior advocates, especially
during the difficult times of their early practice. The apprehensions
about financial distress are driving away many talented law graduates from
litigation, the petitioners argue. It is also stated that after the
COVID-19 crisis, the situation of junior lawyers have worsened.
In 2016, The Jharkhand State Bar Council New
Advocates Stipend Rules was notified. In 2020, the Government of Puducherry
notified the "Government of Puducherry Grant of Stipend to Junior Advocates
Scheme Rules". Andhra Pradesh Government too passed an order for granting
Rs 5000 monthly stipend to junior advocates.
In December last year, the Bar Council of
Kerala had notified rules to provide Rs 5000 monthly stipend for lawyers during
the first three years of actual practice or till the attainment of the age of
30 years, whichever is earlier. The stipend rules were notified
following the nudge by the Kerala High Court in a petition. The petition
was filed through Advocates Praveen Das, Vivek Sharma, Gary Mukhopadhyay,
Abhishek Chandra Gupta, Ayushi Agarwal.
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