The Bar Council of West Bengal informed the Calcutta High Court that it has adopted a resolution to provide financial assistance to needy lawyers amid COVID 19 Lockdown.
The Council was responding to PIL filed by Calcutta High Court Bar Association President Ashoke Kumar Dhandhania, seeking directions to the statutory body to help legal practitioners in need.
The Bar Council filed an affidavit through its secretary which stated that the procedure for providing financial assistance to advocates would begin with the advocates filing an online application form and assistance would be provided after verification.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee was hearing a plea filed by the Calcutta High Court Bar Association seeking framing of a scheme for granting financial assistance to lawyers who may require such assistance in view of the fact that work in the Courts has come to a standstill.
The petition has been filed in the form of a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court invoking the provisions of the West Bengal Advocates’ Welfare Fund Act, 1991 and the West Bengal Advocates’ Welfare Corporation Act, 2012 to provide financial assistance to the needy lawyers amid COVID 19 Lockdown
The bench has directed the petitioner to file its reply by April 29 and the matter has been listed for next hearing on April 30.
-India Legal Bureau