: The Bar Council of Tamil Naduand Puducherry has decided to disburse Rs 4,000 each to 12,000 needy advocates across the state as COVID-19 relief fund.According to a press release from the council, 12,000 lawyers who have been found eligible from among 17,059 who applied for such relief will be issued a cheque through the respective Bar associations.Those who were not members in any Bar association could collect the cheque directly from their nearest Bar association, it added.Soon after the nationwide lockdown was announced, the Bar council decided to provide financial assistance to advocates, particularly young, to meet their daily basic expenses.Immediately, the council started to pool in funds from various sources including contributions from judges and lawyers."The council have received contributions to the tune of Rs 1 crore as donations from judges and lawyers and others, Rs 3 crore from the general fund of the council and Rs 1 crore from the BCI advocates welfare fund totalling Rs five crore," the council's chairperson PS Amalraj said.Besides this, the council has requested all the Bar associations in the state to contribute not less than 25 per cent of the funds available with them to the council to meet out this extraordinary situation.
