Observing that it was not possible to restore normal functioning of courts in the State in the near future due to COVID-19, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday asked the State government to consider the request on behalf of the members of the Bar for evolving a financial scheme to give ₹5 lakh as loan to advocates in need.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S Kinagi issued the direction while taking note of a letter, written by the Belagavi Bar Association, to the Chief Justice to issue direction for evolving this scheme.
While directing the government to treat the letter as the representation, the Bench also asked the government to treat the letter as a general representation made on behalf of the entire advocate fraternity of Karnataka and take appropriate decision.
While pointing out that 45 staff of the High Court and several judicial officers of the State have tested positive for COVID-19 and several of them are under quarantine, the Bench said that the court needs to examine the financial aspects of the members of the Bar with the passage of time as the courts are not functioning regularly since March last week.
