Kerala Govt Sanctions ₹3,000 Monthly Stipend For Junior Lawyers

In a huge relief to the junior advocates practising across the State, the Kerala Government has issued an order mandating a monthly stipend of Rs. 3,000 for junior lawyers in the State.

Lawyers below 30 years of age with less than three years of practice and an annual income less than Rs. 1 lakh are eligible for the said stipend. The annual income limit is however not applicable to those belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The order was issued considering the Kerala Advocates' Stipend Rules notified by the State Bar Council in 2021 which stipulate that the stipend to lawyers may be disbursed from the Fund by the Trustee Committee on a monthly basis or at such intervals as decided by the Trustee Committee and shall be paid into the bank account of the applicant.

Section 9 of the Kerala Advocates Welfare Fund Act, 1980 enables the Trustee Committee to endow monthly stipends to junior lawyers with less than 30 years of age and less than three years of practice at such rates as notified by the State government. The stipend is to be disbursed out of the Advocates Welfare Fund constituted under the Act. 

After the said Rules were notified, the Trustee Committee made some recommendations to the State Government, on the basis of which the new GO was issued.