Courts in Delhi have been functioning on a limited basis since March 16 due to COVID-19, leaving several lawyers in financial distress.
In a bid to provide financial assistance to lawyers in need amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Delhi High Court's Justice Siddharth Mridul has contributed a sum of Rs 1.25 lakh to the Bar Council of Delhi's Advocates' Welfare Fund.
A statement issued by Bar Council of India Co-Chairman Ved Prakash reads,
"Justice Mridul is a former member and Vice-Chairman of BCD and has befittingly responded to the pathetic conditions lawyers are forced to live in due to the unprecedented crisis caused by the pandemic and closure of physical court functioning.
We are confident that the solemn contribution made by Justice Sidharth Mridul will inspire all Senior members of the bar and Judges alike to do their bit for needy lawyers grappling with the worst phase of their life."
Courts in Delhi have been functioning on a limited basis since March 16 due to COVID-19, leaving several lawyers in financial distress.
The Delhi High Court is currently hearing a petition filed by Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) concerning the implementation of the CM Advocates' Welfare Scheme.
Also being considered is a petition seeking a direction to the Central and Delhi governments to provide funds to the Bar Council of Delhi to enable it to bear the medical expenses of advocates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past few months, several lawyers and sitting judges have come forward to make contributions towards COVID-19 relief.
Earlier this year, the judges of the Delhi High Court had contributed a sum of approximately Rs 10 lakh towards the PM Cares Fund established to fight the pandemic.
All of the 33 sitting Supreme Court Judges also contributed Rs 50,000 each towards the PM CARES fund.
Justice NV Ramana, the next in line to become the Chief Justice of India, seperately made a contribution of Rs 1 Lakh each towards the PM National Relief Fund as well as the CM relief funds of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Apart from the Judges, several members of the Bar, such as Senior Advocates Rakesh Dwivedi, AS Chandiok, N Hariharan have also come forward and made generous contributions to various funds.
