Reconstitute Advocates' Welfare Fund Trust Committee Expeditiously: High Court To Delhi Govt

The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi Government to take steps to reconstitute the Committee of the Advocates' Welfare Fund Trust expeditiously. Justice Sachin Datta issued notice on a plea filed by wife of a lawyer seeking directions on the Bar Council of Delhi to forthwith release ex-gratia financial assistance from the Advocates' Welfare Fund to her husband to undergo liver transplantation. It was her case that her husband was a member of the Advocates' Welfare Fund and has been regularly paying his subscription. She said that he was diagnosed with Chronic Liver Disease- Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), decompensated with Acute Kidney Injury (AKI), Jaundice, and Ascites (Meld-NA Score 32) which constituted a critical and life- threatening medical condition. The Court was informed that pursuant to an order under Section 8A of the Advocates Act, 1961 issued by the Bar Council of India, the Bar Council of Delhi stood dissolved and a special committee was appointed to look after its functioning.It was submitted that pursuant thereto, the concerned committee of the Advocates' Welfare Fund Trust is also required to be changed.For context, the Bar Council of India (BCI) dissolved the State Bar Council of Delhi citing continued discrepancies in verification and repeated non compliance of the outer limit of January 31, 2026, for timely conclusion of its elections.In a notice passed on October 10, the BCI had said that the Bar Council of Delhi will cease to function with immediate effect and constituted a Special Committee Section 8A of the Advocates Act to oversee the former's elections.Justice Datta was shown a letter written by Bar Council of the Delhi to the Delhi Government's Principal Secretary (Law) regarding nomination of two names in the Trust Committee. It was submitted that the Delhi Government has yet to act on the basis of the aforesaid communication.Issuing notice in the plea, the Court impleaded Delhi Government through Principal Secretary (Law) as one of the respondents. “The GNCTD is directed to take expeditious steps to reconstitute the concerned committee of the Advocates' Welfare Fund trust in terms of the communication dated 14.10.2025. Let necessary steps in this regard be taken within a period of one week from today,” the Court said. In the meantime, it directed the petitioner wife to to file the claim for ex-gratia financial assistance by filling up requisite form available on the website of Bar Council of Delhi.The Court ordered that the concerned reconstituted committee of the Advocates' Welfare Fund shall consider the claim in its next meeting. “Let the said meeting be scheduled as expeditiously as possible and preferably within a period of three weeks from today,” the Court ordered.The matter will now be heard on December 16.Title: MRS. ANSHIKA KUMARI v. BAR COUNCIL OF DELHI AND OTHERSCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1345Click here to read order

Reconstitute Advocates' Welfare Fund Trust Committee Expeditiously: High Court To Delhi Govt

Nupur Thapliyal

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