That should have been end of the matter. But the High Court then takes upon itself the need to safeguard the livelihood of junior advocates who are employed by either advocates or Senior Advocates. There was no prayer or pleading for directing payment of minimum remuneration to junior advocates. The High Court observed that under Section 6 of the Advocates Act, 1961, the Bar Council was duty bound to ensure that junior lawyers who enter the legal profession with “great ambition” are encouraged and their livelihood is protected. The Court was particularly concerned with junior lawyers who came from marginalised sections and from rural areas to the cities to practice law. It then proceeded to make sweeping statements like:
(1) Earlier, access to professional courses like law were reserved only for the people from privileged backgrounds;
(2) Constitutional ideals played a pivotal role in creating a pathway to all young graduates to come from multi-cultural, multi-social and multi-economic and diverse backgrounds;
(3) The noble profession of law is one of the frontrunners in reinventing itself as and when the need arises; and
(4) Post the COVID-19 pandemic, the lawyers have adapted themselves in tune with technology and we are striving forward as a community to address pertinent issues in the field of law.
The Court noted that many youngsters are forced to quit due to economic instability in the legal profession. It also observed that history showed that lawyers, as a community, were the biggest change-makers in India. Therefore, the High Court took it upon itself to lead the change and ensure that future junior lawyers should be able to work in a safe and robust eco-system. There are then several observations which include a reference to Article 21 and the need to observe that economic instability does not come in the way of the learning of junior lawyers.
Reference is also made to young lawyers who come from marginalised sections of society and hold immense potential. On this basis, the directions to pay the minimum stipend of ₹20,000 in the three major cities and ₹15,000 in the rest of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were made. The Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry was directed to issue circular/instructions/guidelines within a period of four weeks.
Source: Barandbench
