Bar Council seeks Rs100-crore relief

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune news service

Chandigarh, May 2

The Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana has sought Rs100 crore financial aid from the Government of Punjab and Haryana and Chandigarh Administration, claiming that over 100 advocates from the region have died due to Covid so far.

The Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, in a meeting held today, decided to write to Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh in this regard.

Minderjeet Yadav, chairman of the council, said it was also resolved to apprise the higher-ups of the trauma being faced by advocates and their families. A request will be made to the Chief Justice to take appropriate steps to ensure safety of all advocates and their families.

Yadav said the state governments of Punjab and Haryana should release Rs50 crore each to the Bar Council as has been done in Delhi and Karnataka. It was also resolved that the council would start a 24X7 helpline to provide ready coordination and logistics support to all advocates and their families who require any assistance due to Covid-19.

The council will also contemplate the possibility of converting the Law Bhawan Office at Chandigarh to a tertiary medical care centre with primary centres connected with each district and sub-divisions (with ambulance facilities) exclusively for advocates and their families.

The council also resolved to start an awareness campaign under ‘Advocates - Break the Chain’ as the tagline.