'Set Apart A Reasonable Amount Out Of Rs 5 Crores For Clerks' : Karnataka HC Directs State Bar Council [Read Order]

A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Ashok S Kinagi gave the direction while hearing a petition filed by the Advocate Clerks Association. The bench took into the written submissions filed by the State Government wherein it is contended that out of a sum of Rs.5.00 crores granted to the Bar Council,some portion has to be set apart by the Bar Council for the benefit of the advocates' clerks.

The court issued the direction after the counsel for the State Bar Council submitted that the state government had not clarified the specific amount to be set aside for the clerks. Advocate Murthy D Naik appearing for the clerks association contended that an amount of Rs 25 lakh should be set aside out of the grant and it should be disbursed to the needy clerks at the earliest.

As regards the issue raised in the petition filed by Advocates Association of Bengaluru challenging the conditions laid down by the Bar Council for the disbursement of the grant ,the court granted time till October 14 to file their statement of objections.

The Association has sought to quash and set aside the scheme framed on August 26, by the State Bar Council stating that discriminatory conditions were imposed for the lawyers seeking financial assistance. Under the said scheme lady advocates, lawyers above 40 years of age and those enrolled after January 1, 2010 are not eligible for seeking financial assistance.

The court has in its order dated September 2, said the scheme has to be a fair and transparent scheme, considering the fact that the amount of Rs 5 crore transferred by the government constitutes public money. Additional Advocate General (AAG) is also directed to address the court on the nature of the scheme.

On the previous hearing the State Bar Council informed the court that 1163 applications received from advocates were rejected while 7844 applications were sanctioned and an amount of Rs 3,29,20,000 has been disbursed to the needy advocates out of the state grant.

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