Madras High Court directs all lawyers to pay their juniors monthly stipend of ₹15k to ₹20k

The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed that all lawyers including designated Senior Advocates registered with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry should pay a minimum monthly stipend between ₹15,000 and ₹20,000 to all the junior lawyers employed by them..A bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and C Kumarappan directed the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (TN Bar Council) to issue circulars to all lawyers and Senior Advocates “on its rolls” informing them of the Court’s order.The Court said it felt the need to fix such minimum stipend amount and direct all lawyers to pay their juniors since it was the “incumbent duty of all the stakeholders in the legal profession to provide an environment” where all members felt valued..“It is the incumbent duty of all the stakeholders in the legal profession to provide an environment where every member of the legal fraternity feel valued and treated with respect. Opinions and thoughts may differ but the pages of our history have shown that the Lawyer community as a whole have always been the torchbearers of self expression,” the Court said..The High Court issued the directions while hearing a petition filed by one Farida Begam, seeking implementation of the welfare schemes and safeguards for lawyers registered with the TN Bar Council..During the hearing of the matter on June 12, the bench had orally directed the TN Bar Council to issue a circular notifying all bar associations functional in the State and in the Union Territory of Puducherry, mandating that they pay all junior lawyers registered with them a monthly minimum stipend between ₹15,000 and ₹20,000.In its order published on Thursday however, the bench said that such responsibility to pay the stipend amount lay with the senior lawyers who employed the juniors..The Court directed lawyers practicing in Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore to pay their juniors a minimum monthly stipend of ₹20,000.Lawyers practicing before any court in other cities across Tamil Nadu and in Puducherry should pay their juniors a minimum monthly stipend of ₹15,000.Such amount has been calculated taking into account the taking into consideration “the cost of living and expenditure costs prevalent as on today,” the Court said. The bench also said that in its circulars, the TN Bar Council must mention that there should not be any discrimination on the grounds of gender in payment of the monthly stipends to lawyers..On June 6 this year, the same bench had passed another interim order in the matter saying that senior lawyers not paying even a minimum stipend amount to the junior lawyers who worked with them, amounted to exploitation..Advocate C Elangovan appeared for Farida Begam, the petitioner.Additional Government Pleader A Tamilvanan appeared for the respondent Puducherry government.Advocate CK Chandrasekar appeared for the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.Advocate S John J Raja Singh appeared for the Tamil nadu government.Senior Counsel G Masilamani appeared for the Puducherry and Karaikal Bar Associations..[Read Order]