[BREAKING] Delhi lawyers residing in NCR also entitled to be covered by Delhi government's CM Advocates’ Welfare Scheme: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court today ruled the Delhi government's Chief Minister Advocates’ Welfare Scheme must be extended to all lawyers registered with the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) irrespective of whether their place of residence is in Delhi or the surrounding National Capital Region (NCR). (Govind Swaroop Chaturvedi and ors v. State of NCT of Delhi and ors, Bar Council of Delhi v. Govt NCT of Delhi and ors).Justice Prathiba Singh held that the insistence on a voter ID showing residence in Delhi to avail the welfare scheme is discriminatory, arbitrary and has no link to the object of the scheme. .The Court ruled the following:.1. The condition in the scheme that it would be applicable only to residents of Delhi with voter IDs is discriminatory and arbitrary. It has no rational link to the object. The scheme will be extended to all advocates registered with BCD whose names and credentials are verified without insistence on voter ID showing residence in Delhi2. For current year, all advocates registered for benefits under the scheme would be extended the benefits. Government of National Capital of Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) has spent approximately Rs 40 crores, the Court recorded. 5,044 Delhi lawyers from NCR region for whom premium has been paid (but who were hitherto left out from the scheme) will enjoy scheme. All such advocates who have registered within the deadline and who were left out would be covered for remainder of the year.3. In future years, there may be more lawyers eligible for the scheme and the total premium for life insurance and mediclaim may be too much for GNCTD to solely bear the burden, although it is urged that the amount set out for the scheme may be increased. The BCD ought to complement the efforts of GNCTD. The deficit on year to year basis which is beyond GNCTD’s capacity/ budgeted amount shall be funded by BCD. To this end, BCD may utilise its own funds, including funds collected under the Advocates Welfare Act, or pool voluntary contributions from willing lawyers or collect some part of the amount from beneficiaries. The Law Secretary to the GNCTD and the BCD chairman are to work out the modalities for this and appoint nodal officers for the same..Residence of a lawyer does not affect status; status determined by area of practice and enrolment with Bar Council.Justice Prathiba Singh observed that there may be lawyers who practice primarily in Delhi, but have their permanent residence elsewhere. It was further noted that all may not be able to reside in the metropolitan area of Delhi due to financial constraints and may, therefore, choose to reside in NCR while practicing in Delhi..She further highlighted that a conjoint reading of the Advocates' Act, the BCD Rules and the relevant Bar Council of India (BCI) rules reveals that an advocate is entitled to register in the place where s/he intends to primarily practice. Once a lawyer is enrolled with the Bar Council of the area where s/he is practicing, the rules of that Bar Council govern the lawyer. None of these rules give importance to the place of residence of the advocate. The address is only a means of information, which is not set in stone and can be changed after due intimation to the Bar Council, it was pointed out..As such, the place of residence of the advocate does not affect the status of the advocate or take away the right of the advocate to practice in a particular jurisdiction, Justice Singh held..Coupled with this, the Court noted that Delhi enjoys a unique position, especially when it comes to the practice of law. In this regard, it was pointed out that the Supreme Court, various specialised forums, and a vast amount of commercial litigation before Delhi High Court and Delhi courts may attract lawyers from all over the country. Justice Singh noted that there were families who arrived after partition, people who have migrated due to employment compulsions and first generation lawyers who come to Delhi. The Bar is also cosmopolitan and has accepted lawyers from all over India with an open heart, Justice Singh commented..Pertinently, Justice Singh went on to emphasise that the CM Welfare Scheme is centered around the professional contributions of advocates, not their role as voters in Delhi. Lawyers practicing in Delhi and registered with BCD, but residing in NCR, have also contributed to the administration of Justice in Delhi, it was observed. There is no link between the possession of a voter ID showing residence in Delhi and the stated object of the scheme, Justice Singh found..About the scheme.In November last year, Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal had announced that a 13-member committee of lawyers would be set up to make recommendations on the utilization of the Rs. 50 crore earmarked for the Advocates Welfare Fund by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government..In December 2019, the Advocates Committee set up under the convenership of the then-Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President, Rakesh Khanna proposed rolling out Group (Term) Insurance, Group Medi-Claim, e-library and creche for advocates in Delhi towards the utilization of the Chief Minister’s Advocates Welfare Scheme..The scheme was approved by the Delhi government earlier this year. The scheme provides several benefits to Delhi lawyers, including Group (Term) Insurance, Group Medi-Claim, e-library, and creche for advocates in Delhi..In March this year, the present petition to extend this scheme to lawyers residing in NCR, but practicing in Delhi, was filed. .During pendency of petition 28,744 lawyers were issued Life Insurance policies by LIC and 29,077 lawyers got medi-claim from New India Assurance Company Limited (NIACL)..[Read Order]