Above: Lawyers in Delhi staging a protest/Photo:Anil Shakya
Lawyers across the country on Tuesday observed a strike to press for their demand for allocation of Rs 5,000 crore in the Union budget for the welfare of advocates.
Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman, Bar Council of India (BCI) said, “The government should think about welfare of lawyers. Provide infrastructure. Lawyer can become judge but cannot head a tribunal. There isn’t any insurance for lawyers.”
The BCI in its statement said that the government has set up e-courts to fast track court cases, but never bothered to set up e-library for advocates. The initiative of e-courts is a failure in the absence of e-library.
The BCI claimed that nearly 40,000 advocates participated in the protest in Delhi, and more than 20 lakh advocates participated in the country wide protest. A lawyers delegation met the Law Minister and apprised him about its demands.
“The law minister assured us that a committee will be set up to look into the welfare of the advocates. But, the government did not agree on allocating a corpus to meet lawyers demand. We are not happy with government’s response,” Mishra stated.
The BCI said that if its demands are not met then it will hold a protest on March 2 and then it will decide to take strong steps.
Earlier, the (BCI) had released a statement that it will call for the nation wide strike in association with the state bar councils and representatives of the various high court bar association.
According to the BCI, around 1.7 million lawyers across the country have expressed solidarity for the protest marches. They are seeking chamber facilities, accommodation with well-equipped libraries, e-libraries with internet facilities etc.
The lawyers took out a protest march from Patiala House Court to Jantar Mantar demanding budgetary allocations for the welfare of advocates. The office bearers of the Bar Council of India, Bar Council of Delhi, Supreme Court Bar Association and Delhi High Court Bar Association, among others, participated in the protest march.
Read full BCI Press Statement here
—India Legal Bureau
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