Plea in Uttarakhand High Court seeks subsistence allowance, waiver of rent and electricity bill etc. for Lawyers during COVID-19 Lockdown

Even as the country enters into Day 4 of the extended COVID-19 lockdown, a writ petition for providing subsistence allowance for lawyers who are deprived of work since March 24 has been filed in the High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital..The plea has been filed by three lawyers practicing at the Uttarakhand High Court, Manmohan Kandwal, Anil Kumar Sharma and Mukesh Rawat, through Advocates Dr. Kartikey Hari Gupta, Pallavi Bahuguna and Vikas Bahuguna..The petition makes a case that “lawyers constitute a separate class of persons and are entitled to separate financial and other relief measures” from the state government and the Bar Councils of India and Uttarakhand, respectively..It states that “majority of lawyers do not have proper video conferencing facilities particularly internet connections having speed of minimum 2 MBPS” and, thus, they are unable to assist their clients through video conferencing in a proper manner..“There is a need that lawyers in district courts visiting jail, Magistrates or court for remand function or any other urgent function maybe allowed to reach their destination. Hence, maybe exempted from the restriction of movement imposed by the government or any other authority under Section 21 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005,” states the plea..The petition draws a picture of complete economic deprivation for the lawyers ever since the lockdown was announced, stating that neither can they do any other work nor can they earn their livelihood, which is guaranteed as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Indian constitution..“From March 24 to April 14, for 21 days, advocates in the state has been deprived of any income opportunity due to prevention of measures of COVID-19 and social distancing. Even after April 14 till May 3 there are severe restrictions on usual court work, client counselling and hearing of matters of all the courts of the state.. It has deprived advocates further from having any income from court work or client counselling,” says the plea..Further, the petitioners also draw the attention of the court to the condition of the clerks who work for the lawyers, pointing out that since there are no client visitations, the clerks too are suffering..“All class and section of advocates and their staff namely registered advocate clerks have been severely affected more than any other section of the society because court work is statutorily mandated only way of earning livelihood for the advocates. Clerks perform important functions and assist the court in justice delivery. They are registered and their conditions of service are guided by High Court rules. Their income is also dependent on everyday visitation of clients for court proceedings and miscellaneous proceedings. Extreme measures of social distancing and lockdown have left them without any income,” reads the petition..The writ filed prays before the court that the state government and Bar Council of Uttarakhand and India be directed to provide subsistence allowance of Rs 10,000 or above to every advocate registered under the rolls of the Bar Council of Uttarakhand. Further, that free medical aid should be be given to advocates who suspect themselves of having contracted the COVID19..It also prays the Court to direct that lawyers be exempted from paying rent to any landlord for the month of March-April, 2020. Similar directions are sought to exempt lawyers from paying electricity fees. Moreover, it is also urged that lawyers be allowed to travel for urgent matters during the lockdown. Further, it is also prayed that a direction be issued for the waiver of school fees during the period of the lockdown. .The petition also urges the court to provide a subsistence allowance of Rs 5,000 to all the registered clerks of the advocates in Uttarakhand..In this regard, the petition adds that there should be no financial issues with making the payment, arguing that the Advocate Welfare Fund is built for this purpose and that, statutorily, the Bar council is bound to provide financial assistance..“Bar Council of Uttarakhand and Bar Council of India are duty bound to protect the interest of advocates on its rolls. They have statutory functions under Section 6(d) (dd), Section 6 (2) (a) and Section 7 (d) respectively to safeguard the rights, privileges, interests of advocates on its roll, to implement welfare schemes and to give financial assistance to advocates. Bar Councils charge fee and maintain advocates welfare fund under Advocates Welfare Fund Act of 2001. For every proceeding in the court a certain amount of money is charged from advocates/clients to maintain the welfare funds,” reads the plea..The petition further seeks directions for the National Disaster Management Authority to frame separate relief guidelines for advocates and for the waiver from bank interest on re-payment of loans in instalments for the period of the lockdown..The High Court of Uttarakhand is presently only taking up matters of extreme urgency through video conferencing, as a measure to ensure social distancing and prevent the spread of COVID-19. From April 15 onwards various district courts have also been made functional for important/remand cases through video conferencing..[Read the Petition]