The Madras High Court recently declared that senior lawyers not paying even a minimum stipend to junior lawyers constitutes exploitation and infringes on the juniors’ fundamental rights.
In a ruling on June 3, Justices SM Subramaniam and C Kumarappan directed the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry to develop guidelines ensuring a standard minimum payment for junior lawyers working under seniors.
The bench emphasized that Section 6 of the Advocates Act of 1961 mandates Bar Councils to safeguard the welfare of all registered lawyers. Thus, the Tamil Nadu Bar Council is obligated to protect the interests of its registered lawyers.
The Court stated, “It has come to our notice that young, brilliant lawyers, after enrolling with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu, are unable to survive because senior lawyers are not paying them even a minimum stipend. Extracting work without payment is exploitation and directly violates the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. The livelihood of these young lawyers must be supported by senior lawyers, the legal fraternity, and the Courts.”
These observations were made while hearing a petition filed by Farida Begum, who highlighted that around 200 applications from lawyers seeking benefits under The Tamil Nadu Advocate’s Welfare Fund had been pending for months.
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