ICFAI UNIVERSITY ,DEHRADUN

Assignment

Subject: LAW OF TAXATION

TOPIC: “Advocates Welfare Act, 2001”

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

MISS PRIYA CHANANA SUJEET KUMAR
19FLICDDN02207
BALLB (D), 3RD Year
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my deep sense of gratitude to Priya Chanana ma’am, faculty of

professional ethics, for guiding me so good and supporting me for the
assignment so that I can gain knowledge more on the topic Advocates Welfare
Act, 2001. I am very much thankful for his valuable guidance, keen interest and
encouragement for giving me such good topic.

Also, I would like to extend my gratitude to Ms. Monika Kharola for providing
me all the facilities that are required for the completion of my project.
 
 INTRODUCTION: -

Advocates’ Act was the first Act which consolidated and regulated the legal
profession. It provides for the constitution of Central and State Bar Councils to
regulate the profession. The Act provided for the State Bar Councils and the Bar
Council of India to create one or more funds through their roles to “financially
assist the indigent, disabled and other advocates”. It further states that any
grants, donations, monetary contributions which may be received by the State
Bar Councils and the Bar Council of India for the purpose of the fund shall be
credited to the fund. However, it does not provide for welfare stamps nor for
compulsory membership, which has been seen as the biggest loophole in the
entire making of the Act.

This 2001 Act is all about assisting and supporting advocates especially during
periods like in pandemic where there is a high possibility that not-so-high-end
advocates face cash-crunch or high bills for medical treatment. However, the
Advocates’ Welfare Fund is not as simple as it seems on the face of it. It has its
own share of sub-committees and procedures for registration.

Under Section 2(a) of the Act, any person whose name has been enrolled in the
State roll prepared and maintained by the State Bar Council and is a member
with the State Bar Association or State Advocates’ Association. Under Section
2(i), the advocates who benefit from the fund are termed as “members of the
fund”.
SALIENT FEATURES OF ADVOCATES WELFARE ACT 2001: -

1. The primary function is to administer the fund;

2. To maintain and hold the accounts and assets of the fund;

3. Receive applications for the fund and can dispose of them within 90 days
from the receipt;

4. Receive applications from the members or their legal heirs for the payment of
the fund and after proper inquiry and finding it inappropriate, can dispose of the
applications within 5 months;

5. Sending periodical and annual reports to the appropriate government and the
State Bar Council;

6. Keeping a record of the applications and communicating regarding the same

to the applicants.

Functions

 The primary function is to administer the fund;

 To maintain and hold the accounts and assets of the fund;

 Receive applications for the fund and can dispose of them within 90 days
from the receipt;

 Receive applications from the members or their legal heirs for the
payment of the fund and after proper inquiry and finding it inappropriate,
can dispose of the applications within 5 months;

 Sending periodical and annual reports to the appropriate government and

the State Bar Council;
  Keeping a record of the applications and communicating regarding the
same to the applicants.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACT: -

The objective of this Act is being followed below: -

 20 per cent of the amount received by the State Bar Council.

 There should be other forms of contribution by the State Bar Council.
 Any voluntary donation made by the Bar Council of India, State Bar
Association, State Advocates’ Association or any other institution or
advocate or person to the Fund.
 Any amount donated by the Central or State Government to the welfare
fund.
 Any amount borrowed by the State Bar Council for the purpose of the
Act.
 The amount of application fee collected from registration to the Fund by
the members.
 The sums received from Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) or any
insurance company on the death of any member.
 Interest or dividend generated from the return on investment from any
portion or part of the Fund.
 Annual subscription collected from members who are not Senior
Advocates and Senior Advocates being Rs 50 and Rs 1000 respectively.
All that you need to know about the Act

Advocates’ Act was the first Act which consolidated and regulated the legal
profession. It provides for the constitution of Central and State Bar Councils to
regulate the profession. The Act provided for the State Bar Councils and the Bar
Council of India to create one or more funds through their roles to “financially
assist the indigent, disabled and other advocates”. It further states that any
grants, donations, monetary contributions which may be received by the State
Bar Councils and the Bar Council of India for the purpose of the fund shall be
credited to the fund. However, it does not provide for welfare stamps nor for
compulsory membership, which has been seen as the biggest loophole in the
entire making of the Act.

This 2001 Act is all about assisting and supporting advocates especially during
periods like in pandemic where there is a high possibility that not-so-high-end
advocates face cash-crunch or high bills for medical treatment. However, the
Advocates’ Welfare Fund is not as simple as it seems on the face of it. It has its
own share of sub-committees and procedures for registration.

CONCLUSION: -

The Advocates’ Welfare Fund Act, 2001 had raised a myriad of questions
which somehow were never really answered. The Advocates’ Act says nothing
about levying charges for the welfare stamps, not even a single mention of
compulsory membership. There really was not a need for separate central
legislation when the Advocates’ Act was doing the job of efficiently regulating
the legal profession. Moreover, the stamps are a necessity for vakalatnama
which ends up forcing the clients to pay for the stamps that go on to contribute
to the fund. Ironically, there is a Section 27(2) which clearly states that a client
should not have to bear the cost of the stamp. On a side note, even if there is no
problem with the scheme for lawyers, what about the poor who are in a dire
need for upliftment. There is no reaction from the government other than yelling
slogans and running fruitless election campaigns.

Thus, with this I end my Professional Ethics project successfully. I would like
to thank my parents and friends for helping me and our subject faculty for
providing me with such great information on my topic.