Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Welfare Trust refutes claims of SCAORA on use of funds, says trust has contributed towards welfare of lawyers

The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Welfare Trust (Trust) has refuted the allegations of the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) regarding management of the trust and use of funds by the Trust..Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, managing trustee of the Trust told Bar & Bench that ever since the pandemic began in 2020, the trust "relying on contributions and costs, has been providing financial aid based on lists provided by SCAORA apart from oxygen cylinders to members during the second wave of Covid this year.""The trust raised funds from Senior Advocates and others and has been providing free medical insurance every year to lawyers, their clerks and families," he added. .SCAORA had passed a resolution on July 18 stating that Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Welfare Trust has no relation to SCAORA and had called upon the Trust to refrain from using the words ‘Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record’ in its name..The resolution had said that the Trust receives “substantial contributions by way of costs and donations by virtue of it using the words ‘Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record’ in its name and the address of SCAORA.”The resolution said use of such name as well as the address of SCAORA by the Trust has led to the erroneous impression that the said trust is being run or managed by SCAORA.In a majority resolution passed on July 18, 2021, with nine executive members voting in favour and three dissenting, SCAORA had stated that contributions that legitimately “should have been credited to SCAORA for the benefit of its members have been received by the said Trust, leaving SCAORA bereft of funds.”.SCAORA passes resolution by 9:3 majority disassociating from SCAORA Welfare Trust; asks trust to refrain from using SCAORA name.However, Senior Advocate Luthra said, "The President Vice President and Secretary are ex officio members of the Trust since inception. When SCAORA expressed a desire to disassociate, the Trust had by resolution requested SCAORA nominees to get a resolution passed so that an appropriate modification can be made to the Trust deed as per law. That resolution has been passed now. The trust will continue with its work as before and the SCAORA resolution will be considered in the next meeting of the Trust.".A year after 2013 when the Trust was founded, an insurance scheme was put in place with contributions received from senior lawyers at no cost to the beneficiaries, he added.“In the last few years insurance cover is Rs 5 lacs per lawyer with income less than Rs 10 lakhs and registered clerks and families is Rs 1 lakh per year. Number of beneficiaries is normally over 100 lawyers and families every year apart from clerks,” Luthra said. .Luthra maintains that the trust helped lawyers with a disbursal of over Rs 65 lakhs alone last year. .The “SCAOR Welfare Trust” came into existence on February 7, 2013. As per the trust deed seven named lawyers, including non-AORs, are life trustees.The SCAORA resolution, however, said that the trust deed not only enables any advocate (other than an AOR who is member of SCAORA) to become a life trustee upon contribution /donation of a sum of Rs 25 lakh or more to the corpus of the Trust, but also that its objects and purposes also extend benefits to non AORs as well.“President, Vice-President and Secretary of SCAORA, who as per the said trust deed are to be ex officio trustees in the said Trust during their tenure, does not tantamount to the said Trust being run or managed by the Executive Committee of SCAORA in office,” the resolution passed by SCAORA said.