The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard a plea by the Bar Council of India seeking Rs 3 lakh loan for lawyers citing financial instability due to closure of courts in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. The bench of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice V. Ramasubramanian directed BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra to make efforts and ask people to contribute. The bench said government will do its bit but BCI should also keep channelising the means to collect direct funds. The matter will be heard after two weeks.
Arguing for BCI, Senior Advocate Narasimha said a number of junior lawyers are facing a financial crisis. He suggested these lawyers should be granted a loan of Rs 3 lakh. CJI Bobde asked the BCI if it was making any efforts to help these lawyers out. He said when he was at BCI, there were a lot of funds which could be utilized for the purpose. Another petitioner association also demanded interest free loan for its lawyers during the hearing citing closure of courts, which it said was violative of Article 145 (2) of the Constitution.
Defending the virtual hearing, CJI Bobde said closure of courts was important due to pandemic, or number of fatalities would increase. The bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to take cognizance of the matter saying a batch of petitions have been filed seeking government’s assistance in providing loans to lawyers. SG Mehta said he will seek instructions from the government over the matter. He said he will also discuss the matter with petitioners.
The matter will be heard again by the Apex Court after two weeks.