Despite being lawmakers and rights defenders, advocates work without safety nets, infrastructure or policy attention
Adv Suhail Gaznavi
Lawyers constitute one of the most vital yet paradoxically vulnerable sections of society. Entrusted with the constitutional responsibility of safeguarding rights and ensuring access to justice, advocates form the backbone of the justice delivery system. Yet, despite their indispensable role, lawyers remain among the most marginalised professionals in India, systematically overlooked in matters of welfare, social security, and institutional support.
A Profession Without Safety Nets
Unlike judges and other employees of the judiciary—who enjoy fixed salaries, pensions, housing, medical benefits, and post-retirement security—most practising advocates function without any assured income. There is no universal pension, no comprehensive health insurance, no accident or life insurance, and no guaranteed financial protection for families in the event of death or disability. For advocates who are sole breadwinners, this absence of institutional support can push entire families into financial and social insecurity.
Invisible Despite Representation In Legislatures
It is deeply unfortunate that despite a substantial number of lawyers occupying seats in Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies, the collective concerns of the legal fraternity rarely find meaningful representation in legislative debates or policy frameworks. The profession that contributes lawmakers, ministers, and constitutional functionaries remains largely unheard when its own welfare is at stake.
Equally concerning is the limited visibility of advocate-centric issues in the agenda of Bar Associations and Bar Councils. While these institutions are mandated to safeguard professional interests, welfare concerns, and infrastructure deficits often fail to translate into sustained institutional engagement with policymakers, resulting in limited policy attention from the government.
Severe Infrastructure Deficit
The neglect of the legal profession is also reflected in the acute lack of professional infrastructure. In many courts across the country, advocates with ten or more years of standing do not have allotted chambers. Lawyers are compelled to work from congested bar rooms, corridors, or even vehicles, undermining professional dignity, confidentiality, and efficiency.
Such infrastructural inadequacy does not merely affect advocates; it directly impacts litigants and weakens the overall quality of justice delivery. A profession entrusted with defending constitutional rights cannot function effectively without minimum physical and institutional support.
Unequal Support To Young Lawyers
Some States have introduced monthly stipends for junior advocates during the initial five years of practice to address early financial hardship and promote professional stability. However, no such stipend or structured financial support exists in Jammu & Kashmir, leaving young and first-generation lawyers economically vulnerable at the very entry stage of the profession.
Statutory Recognition Without Effective Implementation
The importance of advocate welfare finds statutory recognition under the Advocates Act, 1961:
Section 6(2) empowers State Bar Councils to constitute welfare funds for advocates.
Section 7(2) mandates the Bar Council of India to promote legal education and advocate welfare.
Additionally, the Advocates’ Welfare Fund Act, 2001, was enacted to provide financial assistance to advocates and their dependents. However, uneven implementation, inadequate funding, procedural delays, and lack of uniformity across States have significantly limited its practical impact.
Need For A Comprehensive Welfare Framework
There is an urgent need for a uniform, statutory, and nationwide welfare policy for advocates, encompassing:
A minimum pension scheme after a defined period of practice
Comprehensive health insurance for advocates and their dependents
Life and accident insurance with adequate compensation
Immediate financial assistance to the families of deceased advocates
Emergency relief funds for illness, disability, or natural calamities
Planned infrastructure development, including chambers for advocates with reasonable years of practice
These measures should be viewed not as privileges, but as essential safeguards for sustaining the justice delivery system.
Conclusion
A justice system cannot remain resilient if its primary stakeholders are left to navigate insecurity and neglect. Advocates are officers of the court and custodians of constitutional values. The absence of welfare schemes, infrastructure, and effective representation has reduced a noble profession to one of silent endurance.
True judicial reform must extend beyond digitisation and court infrastructure. It must ensure dignity, security, and institutional support for lawyers, without whom the promise of justice would remain incomplete. Strengthening advocate welfare is, ultimately, an investment in the rule of law itself.
The writer is an Advocate at the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh
su*********@***il.com