CUTTACK: In a bid to extend financial assistance to needy lawyers to see through the troubled times, the Orissa State Bar Council has appealed all advocates contribute to the welfare fund. Bar Council secretary JK Samantasinghar said “In light of the unprecedented situation on account of Covid-19 pandemic and representations received from various advocates facing financial hardship across the State, all advocates are requested to contribute generously to the “OSBC advocates Welfare Corpus Fund”. The amount shall be utilised for disbursement among advocates who require financial assistance, said Samantasinghar in an appeal through a press release late on Monday.
The Bar Council took the initiative after members of different Bar Associations sent a request for financial assistance citing the plight of lawyers who are unable to make any money due to closure of High Court and all other subordinate courts during the lockdown.
Responding to the request the Bar Council, which is the apex statutory body for over 160 Bar Associations in the State, had resolved to provide the financial aid to ‘needy advocates having less than 10 years of practice’.A city-based lawyer Dillip Kumar Ray had also filed in PIL in Orissa High Court seeking payment of monthly ex gratia of `25,000 for three months to lawyers in view of the lockdown.