Senior lawyers must pay minimum stipend of ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 to juniors, orders Madras High Court

Madras High Court mandates minimum stipend for junior lawyers to ensure economic stability and support marginalized sections.

The Madras High Court has ordered that henceforth any established lawyer engaging a junior for performance of professional duties must pay a minimum monthly stipend of ₹20,000 in Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore and a minimum of ₹15,000 in other parts of Tamil Nadu as well as Puducherry.

A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and C. Kumarappan directed the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to issue a circular in this regard to all the established advocates in its rolls. It also made clear that there should not be any disparity on the basis of the gender of the juniors.

Taking note of many young lawyers, hailing from marginalised sections of society, quitting the profession due to economic instablity, the Bench said, young lawyers of the day face numerous challenges in the profession and that their enthusiasm should not be stifled solely because of economic factors.

Authoring the order for the Bench, Justice Subramaniam said, a fair question could be posed as to why courts were concerned only about the plight of junior lawyers when the juniors in other professions too face similar challenges. Answering it, he said, it was because lawyers had been the change makers in the country.

“We must lead the change we want to be,” he said and asked the senior lawyers to not discount the difficulties faced by the juniors. He said, it would be insensitive on the part of the seniors to state that they had undergone insurmountable difficulties and therefore everyone else also must undergo similar travails.

“Why should our future lawyers be made to undergo the same difficulties we encountered? Why can’t we come together to provide them with a safe and robust ecosystem? This should be the vision we must create for ourselves in today’s time and age,” the Division Bench wrote.

“It is important to note that young lawyers, especially from the marginalised sections of the society, hold immense potential. Through the unified and concreted efforts of the Bar and the Bench in supporting these young lawyers, the institution can move forward in leaps and bounds,” it added.