Lawyers lost livelihood in Covid, why no special fund to help them: SC

New Delhi, July 23: The Supreme Court on Wednesday took suo motu cognizance of the loss of livelihood of lawyers on account of the pandemic and sought to know why a special fund should not be set up to help them.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde termed the situation “unprecedented” and issued notices to the Centre and the Bar Council of India, The Indian Express reported.

“We find that the pandemic has taken a heavy toll of the lives of citizens and particulate legal fraternity,” the bench said. It pointed out that the legal fraternity is bound by rules to restrict their occupation to the practice of law and are not entitled to earn livelihood by any other means.

“A sizeable proportion is denied of their income and livelihood,” the court said. It observed that this had prompted constant calls for resumption of physical hearings which, however, may jeopardise the health situation.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/lawyers-lost-livelihood-in-covid-why-no-special-fund-to-help-them-supreme-court-6519169/