Young law graduates keenly wait for their last semesters to culminate so as to enable them to enter law profession with much enthusiasm and fun fare. Most excited to don their black blazer and white band and promise to work under some senior Counsel with great zeal and hard work. These budding lawyers put in 12 to 14 hours of their hard work and lo what do they get inreturn is hard to believe – the juniors either get a very petty amount or nothing in return. Same hold true for under-grads who work as interns. This may sound absurd as those who are trained to give justice to others don’t get justice themselves. Greek Goddess of Justice Themis watch this injustice blindfolded.

The arguments put forth by the Senior Counsel are absurd in nature whereby they justify themselves as giving in house training to the young budding lawyers and therefore they can exempt themselves from paying any money or stipend to their juniors.

What is Stipend ?

A stipend is a form of salary or pay for an internship or apprenticeship while during the course or after completion of the course for training purposes. It is often distinct from a wage or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work performed and usually they are lower as a permanent salary for similar work.

Stipend can be a kind of support to young lawyers during his/her initial phase into practice, particularly to those who represent the economically weaker sections of the society. Morally and rationally the seniors ought to pay and not reduce the young lawyers to the category of bonded labors. One should not become an instrument in demoralizing and downgrading the juniors who join this noble profession as an ideal profession with big dreams.

Nonpayment of any stipend may definitely lead to the exploitation of the younger brigade who in turn may quit the profession out of sheer frustration, unable to bear the financial burden of their families.

RECENT DEVELOPMENT:

Punjab and Haryana High Court seeks (Bar Council of India) BCI, State Bar Council response on a plea for minimum stipend for junior lawyers.
The plea seeks standardized stipend and remuneration guidelines, proposing a minimum stipend of ₹15,000 for young advocates and ₹5,000 for law interns.

 

 

 

 

Hon’ble Dr. Justice D.Y Chandrachud asserts “Junior lawyers are not slaves, pay them decent salaries” He urged senior advocates not to treat their juniors as slaves and pay them decent salaries, saying this kind of practice must change. “For far too long, we have regarded youngsters in our profession as slave workers. Because that is how we grew up…This is the old ragging principle in Delhi University that those who were ragged, would always go on to rag people who were below them. It was like passing on the blessings of being ragged,” CJI said.

The Delhi high court had also appealed to senior lawyers to pay a “dignified stipend” to their juniors so that it is enough for them to overcome financial stress.

In May 2020, a survey had found that advocates with less than two years of legal practice at the Bar earn less than Rs 10,000 a month.

Around 80% of the surveyed advocates from the Delhi high court said the average monthly income in the first two years of practice for a lawyer could be between Rs.5 000 and Rs 20,000.

It is indeed very difficult for young advocates to bear expenses for the purposes of accommodation, food, and travel, many of these young people either do not get paid by their seniors or the even if they are paid, their salaries are so meager that they can barely cover the cost of living .

 

Advocate Mamta Shukla

Founder Vijay Foundation