Budget outlay for lawyers' welfare sought

City lawyers on Tuesday participated in a protest march from the Patiala House Court to Jantar Mantar demanding budgetary allocations for advocates' welfare schemes.

Around 35,000 lawyers participated in the march, the Bar Council of India (BCI) said.

BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said they are demanding Rs 5,000 crore budgetary allocation for lawyers and litigants welfare in the annual budget.

Office-bearers of the BCI, the Bar Council of Delhi, the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Delhi High Court Bar Association participated in the march.

A delegation of bar met Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who assured them to find out the ways and means for welfare measures for advocates. But the minister expressed his inability to grant any corpus fund from the Union government.

According to the Bar Council of Delhi, "The protest was undertaken to press for various demands, as the government has done nothing for the legal fraternity despite the fact that advocates are pillars of the democratic fabric of the country."

The lawyers' demands include medical facility, insurance, housing schemes, financial assistance to young lawyers, pension schemes, not scrapping the BCI and the State Bar Council, amendment to the Legal Service Authority Act to enable lawyers discharge the functions under the Act and amendment to Acts for appointment of retired judges as presiding officers in various tribunals and commissions.

--IANS

akk/rs/pcj