Madras High Court orders Bar bodies to pay junior lawyers monthly stipend of ₹15k to ₹20k

The Madras High Court Wednesday directed the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (TN Bar Council) to issue circulars to all bar associations in the State and in the Union Territory of Puducherry, mandating that they pay all junior lawyers registered with them a minimum monthly stipend between ₹15,000 and ₹20,000..A bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and C Kumarappan directed the TN Bar Council to direct all associations to pay a minimum monthly stipend of ₹20,000 to junior lawyers practicing in Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore. Similarly, a minimum monthly stipend of ₹15,000 should be paid to junior lawyers practicing before court in other cities across Tamil Nadu and in Puducherry.Such minimum stipend has been calculated taking into account the “basic living costs and the prevalent cost index” in the State, the Court said.The Bar Council will hold a meeting and decide on the eligibility criteria on who all would qualify as a "junior advocate". As per the order, they have to be fresh law graduates practicing in courts across the State..“Why should young lawyers be forced to go through the struggles we faced? Let us come together and create a robust space for them. Suffering as a junior lawyer must not be a necessary part and parcel of this profession. To expect them to get used to not being paid and suffer is unacceptable and demeaning. Article 21, and one’s right to livelihood extends to young law graduates. Though they are here to learn, they must be paid. Their inability to make a living must not come in their way of learning,” the bench said. .Advocate CK Chandraasekar, who appeared for the TN Bar Council said the Council was agreeable to junior lawyers being paid but sought two months to issue such circular. The bench however, directed the council to issue the circulars within four weeks and to report compliance to the Court by July 10..The Court was hearing a petition seeking orders to the government of Puducherry to allocate funds towards the Puducherry Advocates Welfare Fund.The Puducherry government told the court that it was not opposed to allocating funds but that the same had been delayed owing to “internal conflicts” among the several lawyer bodies in the Union Territory.The Court directed the local bar associations to coordinate and work out a solution within four months from now..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 identity in payment of the monthly stipends to lawyers.“Court also wishes to bring to fore the disparity in pay on lines of gender. This issue is rarely spoken of. It must be addressed and this minimum stipend must be extended to lawyers irrespective of their gender identity. We are not just saying to women, but this must include transgender persons as well,” the Court said. .On June 6 this year, the bench had passed another order saying that senior lawyers were not paying even a minimum stipend to the junior lawyers working for them and it amounted to exploitation and violation of fundamental rights.