Bar Council gives Rs 1 crore assistance to lawyers infected with Covid-19

BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC) has extended the financial assistance to the tune of Rs 1.06 crore to 733 lawyers infected with Covid- 19 in the state. KSBC has sanctioned Rs 10,000 each to lawyers who are in home quarantine and Rs 25,000 each to advocates who are hospitalised in the second wave of Covid-19.

According to Bar Council Chairman L Srinivasa Babu, Rs 10,000 each has been sanctioned to 513 lawyers and Rs 25,000 each to 220 lawyers. Babu said that KSBC sanctioned the financial assistance in two phases. In the first phase, it had sanctioned Rs 54.15 lakh -- Rs 10,000 each to 289 lawyers and Rs 25,000 each to 101 lawyers. In the second batch, it has sanctioned Rs 52.15 lakh -- Rs 10,000 each to 224 lawyers and Rs 25,000 each to 119 lawyers, he said. KSBC has appealed to Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to sanction Rs 25 crore for advocates who are in financial distress due to lockdown.

In a letter addressed to the CM, Babu stated that there are more than 1.10 lakh advocates in the state and they are facing severe financial crisis for the last one year owing to the Covid- 19 lockdown, he said. He also said more than 200 advocates have lost their lives to Covid in the state during the second wave.

AAB seeks relief package
In a letter addressed to the CM, Advocates Association of Bangalore president AP Ranganath said that the government should treat advocates as frontline workers and announce a compensation of Rs 30 lakh to
each family of advocates who have succumbed to Covid and announce a package.