Sunday 14th Jun, 2026
Jammu, May 11: The Jammu wing of Jammu and Kashmir High Court has issued a notice to the state government in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed for framing welfare schemes for advocates.
A division bench, comprising Justices D S Thakur and Sindhu Sharma, on Friday evening issued notices to the respondent to file reply within four weeks.
The PIL was filed by two practicing advocates namely Salil Gupta and Bharat Sharma in March and the permission for registering it as a PIL was granted by the Chief Justice on May 7 seeking reliefs with respect to the formulation of welfare schemes for advocates.
Advocates Gagan Basotra and Aditya Sharma appeared on behalf of the petitioners and submitted that state government should be directed to formulate a scheme in terms of the Advocate Act or any other law to pay a monthly stipend of Rs 10,000 to the newly-enrolled lawyers with further direction to the respondents to also formulate a scheme for payment of pension to advocates who put in an at least 40 years of active professional service as an enrolled advocate.
Advocate Basotra further submitted that it is the need of an hour that direction must be issued for formulation of insurance scheme with a statutory nature for the welfare of enrolled advocates.
Moreover, there are such schemes available in Kerala and other states where monthly 5,000 is being paid to newly-enrolled advocates as such claim the same parity.
It is imperative that the best of the advocates are available in the profession so that there in no impediment in dispensation of justice by the courts.
The petitioners, however, are also seeking direction to the respondents to fulfill their constitutional obligation in terms of directive principles of the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.
UNI