India’s top professional body for lawyers, the Bar Council of India (BCI) has appealed the lawyer’s community of India to restrain for voting in favour of Bhartiya Janata Party in upcoming general elections. The BCI held a nationwide protest on February 12, 2019 (Tuesday), to pressurize the demands of lawyers which include allocation of fund of Rs. 5000 crore for the welfare of advocates and litigants. The decision was taken by the BCI in a joint meeting of Bar Associations of all the states in New Delhi on 2nd February. The BCI has appealed the lawyers to come on the road for the nationwide protest and abstain from doing any legal work on 12th February. BCI Chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra said that- “If the demands are not met even after the protest, they will appeal to the lawyers not to vote for the BJP. The lawyers’ bodies are meant to save the democracy and the independence of judiciary and all other institutions…No central government has ever given a thought to the welfare of the lawyers as if we are not citizens of the country. In around 80 percent of the court complexes, there are no proper facilities for the lawyers or the litigants. Budgetary allocation of Rs 5000 crores for lawyers and litigants welfare in the Union Annual Budget in order to provide an insurance cover of upto Rs 20 lakh for lawyers and their families (dependants), stipend for needy new entrants at the Bar up to five years of their practice (minimum Rs 10,000 per month) and financial protection to lawyers and their dependants in case of untimely death or incapacitation by reason of disease, accident etc.”
There are 17 lakh lawyers in the BCI. The BCI further demanded that the budgetary fund would be managed by the state bar councils and the ratio to be distributed to different state bar councils shall be decided by the apex bar body. It also demanded that the government should frame schemes to acquire lands at cheaper and necessary changes in the legal services authority act so that functions under the act could be discharged by the lawyers and not by the judges or judicial officers only.
However, it is to be noted that in the case of Ex-Captain Harish Uppal vs. Union of India in the year 2002, a three Judges bench of the Supreme Court has held that lawyers do not have the right to strike. The BCI statement came in such a time when the general elections of 2019 are going to be held very soon and it is obvious that these demands are probably not going to be met by the centre anytime soon. Interestingly, this is also being seen as a political move by the BCI Chairperson Mishra, who hails from Bihar and has been a member of the Indian National Congress. He has contested assembly election as a candidate of INC from the Bainkunthpur constituency in 2010.
The Bar Council of India through a press release dated February 12, 2019, has further informed that a joint meeting comprising of representatives of all State Bar Councils, Co-ordination Committee of Bar Associations of Delhi & NCR and other Bar Associations of the country will be convened on March 2, 2019, in the premises of Bar Council of India.
The decision for a general meeting of these committees was taken after the demands were rejected by the Union Law Minister and Senior Advocate Ravi Shankar Prasad. Moreover, he said in the meeting that a committee of lawyers and officials would be constituted to propose ways in which welfare measures for lawyers may be introduced. But at this moment he cannot grant any corpus fund from the Union Government for the purpose of welfare measures of the lawyers.
BCI press release states that it is “dissatisfied and dismayed on the hollow assurances given by the Union Government. The Bar was under the impression that after witnessing the Unity and Reaction of about 18 lakhs lawyers of the country, the Government would accept the genuine demands of the lawyers.”
Read the Press Release of the BCI dated 12/02/2019 here:
Read the Press Release of the Government of India dated 12/02/2019 here:
