Invite tender for providing insurance to lawyers under CM's advocates welfare scheme: HC to AAP govt

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the AAP government to invite tenders for providing mediclaim and term insurance to lawyers registered with Bar Council of Delhi under the Rs 50 crore Chief Minister's Advocates Welfare Scheme.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the AAP government to invite tenders for providing mediclaim and term insurance to lawyers registered with Bar Council of Delhi under the Rs 50 crore Chief Minister's Advocates Welfare Scheme. The direction was issued by Justice Prathiba M Singh while hearing a plea filed by the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) seeking grant of mediclaim and term insurance for 29,098 advocates registered with it.

According to the plea, moved through BCD chairman K C Mittal, there are 37, 135 lawyers who are registered voters in Delhi and of these 29,098 are on the BCD's rolls and have been verified by it. Mittal and central government standing counsel Anil Soni, who appeared for the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the high court also asked BCD to give list of lawyers enrolled with it, but living in the national capital region.

Soni, said the high court has asked the Delhi government to start process of providing insurance to the 29,098 lawyers registered and verified by BCD. Besides BCD's plea, two other similar pleas were also taken up by the court and all three are now listed for further hearing on July 17.

The BCD, in its plea, has said that vide cabinet decision of December 17, 2019, Delhi government decided to provide medical insurance of Rs five lakh and term insurance of Rs 10 lakh to lawyers, who are residents of the national capital, under the Chief Minister Advocates Welfare Scheme. The petition contended that no scheme was made available in 2019-20 and even during COVID crisis nothing was done.