Allahabad HCBA prez writes to BCI to create corpus fund for lawyers affected by COVID-19

Allahabad High Court Bar Association's (HCBA) newly-elected president Amarendra Nath Singh on Wednesday wrote to the chairman of Bar Council of India demanding a corpus for providing urgent medical help and compensation to the needy and ailing lawyers in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.

"An extraordinary situation has arisen due to COVID-19, causing complete lockdown in several countries, including India. I thank the Chairman, Bar Council of India (BCI) seeking financial assistance for the lawyers from the Union government, he said.

In a letter addressed to chairmen of all state bar councils, Nath said, "As an emergency measure and the duty cast upon the Bar Council of India and state bar councils under the Advocates Act, 1961, I suggest that an emergency fund of at least fifty crore rupees be created collectively from contribution by the Bar Council of India, state bar councils, Advocate Welfare Fund and from members.

The fund be kindly utilised to provide help to young and old ailing lawyers. It is an extremely serious situation in the country, he said.

Nath, member and former chairman of Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh, offered a contribution of Rs 25,000 to the emergency corpus fund.