Lawyers of Cuttack, including members of the Orissa High Court Bar Association, on Tuesday decided to confront a move initiated by the Odisha State Bar Council regarding collection of fees from advocates for the purpose of Corpus Welfare Fund (CWF). The Bar Council on June 8 had issued a notification asking the lawyers to affix an additional amount of Rs 100 in their each vakalatnama which would go to the council’s CWF.
In an extraordinary emergent meeting, the High Court Bar Association and representatives of all other bar associations of the city passed a unanimous resolution to defy the council’s notification.
Discussing the issue, participants raised the fact that in the absence of a permanent Bar Council, the interim committee of the council is not authorised to take a decision on the policy matters of the advocates’ fees. They also pointed out that there is no valid reason for the council to collect money from the lawyers for the corpus fund. Instead, the council could have approached the State Government to fill the coffers of the corpus fund.
“In view of these discussions, it was unanimously decided not to affix any additional fees in the vakalatnama as notified by the interim committee of the State Bar Council,” said the resolution issued by the High Court Bar Association. The resolution said the meeting further decided to intimate the decision to other bar associations of the State with a request to adhere to it with immediate effect.
Cuttack lawyers defy Bar Council diktat
Wednesday, 15 June 2022 | PRADIP DAS
| CUTTACK
Cuttack lawyers defy Bar Council diktat
Wednesday, 15 June 2022 | PRADIP DAS | CUTTACK
