Plea In Karnataka High Court To Include Advocates' Parents As Dependents To Provide Medical Insurance

A petition has been filed in the Karnataka High Court seeking a direction to the Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC) and the Bar Council of India (BCI) to take appropriate action to include Parents of Advocate as dependents in the model form provided by the State Bar Council to provide Medical insurance, Term insurance for Advocates.

The petition filed by Advocate Ramesh Naik L states that parents of any person, including Advocates, are at higher risk of developing illnesses due to their age; they require more medical attention including regular health check-ups.

The plea says BCI, after holding due consultation with the Ministry of Law and Justice, requested all the State Bar Councils (SBCs) in the country, to collect certain data of the practicing Advocates on their respective rolls in order to be able to provide Medical insurance, Term insurance for Advocates. KSBC in turn directed its members to coordinate with all the Bar Associations in the State to collect certain data of the member Advocates viz. Name and age of the Advocate and his/her spouse and children information as provided in the model form.

The plea states the aforesaid model form doesn’t provide an option to include the Parents as dependents for medical insurance coverage of Advocate’s family but only the spouse and children of the practicing Advocates.

The petitioner says he raised a grievance before the office bearers of the High Court Bar Association who expressed helplessness in this matter by stating that the model form needs to be amended by the Karnataka State Bar Council level. Following which an email representation was forwarded to the KSBC, requesting to provide an option to include parents of an Advocate as dependents and their information also be collected, but in vain, the plea states.

The plea claims the exclusion of Parents data at the very initial stage of information collection of Advocate and his family for the purpose of medical insurance coverage violates the Regulation 2(C) of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Micro-insurance) Regulations, 2005. The rule defines the meaning of Family as a Unit comprising Husband, Wife, dependent Parents and a maximum of three children.

Case Title: Ramesh Naik L And Karnataka State Bar Council and Ors.

Case No: WP (FR) NO.14863/2023