Advocates' pension from next year, says Mani

KOCHI: The state government was planning a pension scheme for advocates, from 2012-13, law minister K M Mani said while inaugurating a Welfare Fund Trust for advocates instituted by the Kerala High Court Advocates Association.
At the inaugural function, Mani lauded the efforts of the advocates' association in setting up a welfare fund for advocates, noting that such a fund by an association of advocates was the first in the country.
The law minister also exhorted the government pleaders to be more proactive in conducting cases and to avoid delays and losses to the government owing to the apathetic stances adopted in court.
Hinting at the high fee rates in existence for advocates, Mani said that if he had a choice, he would have preferred to be a lawyer than a minister, and added that the lawyer who appeared in lottery cases earned Rs 1.6 crore as fees.
Acting chief justice Manjula Chellur, Justice C N Ramachandran Nair, advocate-general K P Dandapani, association president advocate Thomas Abraham and secretary advocate M P Madhavan Kutty also spoke at the function.