Ranchi: A large section of lawyers across the state are struggling for survival due to the Covid pandemic and thousands of them have sought aid from Jharkhand State Bar Council (JSBC) to meet the crisis. JSBC officials said while the pandemic has impacted the entire lawyer fraternity, about half of the 30,000-odd lawyers in the state have been affected very badly. Lawyers at Ranchi district court said as many as 90% of them are almost jobless.
Rekha Verma, an independent lawyer at Ranchi civil court, said, “As of now, district courts are hearing only criminal and urgent matters. Since I practice on civil disputes, there has been no work for me for eight months. It has become very difficult for me to support my family under these circumstances.”
Former general secretary of Ranchi District Bar Association Sanjay Vidrohi said a large section of junior lawyers were earning through miscellaneous works, like filing of affidavits, which has stopped completely. He said, “After the prolonged period of joblessness and no income, many lawyers have taken up various other jobs to support their family. Many lawyers are in acute crisis, but not expressing it in public”
Another lawyer, Deepesh Nirala, said even though online court is going on, a significant section of lawyers living in semi-urban and rural areas are facing hindrances as they do not have laptops, smartphones and internet connectivity.
Even though JSBC and the Advocate Welfare Fund Trustee Committee are implementing a scheme to provide financial aid to needy lawyers, they have provided support to a small group owing to financial constraints. JSBC chairman R Krishna said, “We received an amount of Rs 45 lakh from the Bar Council of India. Almost the entire amount has been distributed with each beneficiary getting Rs 1,000. A verbal demand for more money has been raised with the BCI.”
In addition, around 1,100 lawyers have got aid from the Advocates Welfare Trustee Committee headed by the advocate general. Around 4200 had applied for aid under the scheme. However, monetary aid ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 is not enough for them to meet their requirements for months.
Earlier, JSBC had asked the state government to provide financial aid of Rs 20,000 to every lawyer but the request was ignored. Under the prevailing circumstances, lawyers and associations have started making demands for restarting physical courts in order to increase their work and income.