‘Rs130m allocated for lawyers affected by lockdown’

LAHORE:The Lahore High Court was told on Monday that the Punjab government established an allocated fund of Rs130 million for financial support of lawyers affected by the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan was hearing a petition by Lahore High Court Bar Association’s Secretary Haroon Dugal against lack of government’s support to the lawyers badly hit by the pandemic related lockdown.

On last hearing, the chief justice had constituted a six-member committee to deliberate the mode of financial support to lawyers affected by the coronavirus lockdown. During the Monday’s hearing, Pakistan Bar Council member Azam Nazir Tarar, a member of the committee, told the court that the provincial government had earmarked a fund of Rs130 million for lawyers. Acting Advocate General of Punjab Shan Gul, who headed the committee, was also present in the court.

CJ Khan directed the government to transfer the amount of the fund to the LHCBA account within three days. The chief justice adjourned further hearing for a week and also directed the federal government to allocate funds to support the lawyers in the testing time of the pandemic. Mr Dugal had pleaded that lawyers had been suffering from acute financial crisis since the pandemic lockdown had been imposed limiting the movement and hearing of cases in courts. He said the government decided to support people of all segments affected by the lockdown and earmarked funds for them.

However, he said the government had not established any such fund for the lawyers who had no other option except practicing the law before courts. He asked the court to order the government to provide financial support to the lawyers and establish a fund to this effect.