Noticing that due to the covid 19 pandemic many advocates lost their life, the Madras High Court stated that there is a need for the establishment of a committee that can give suggestions concerning medical insurance coverage to advocates.
The matter was heard by a division bench of the Madras High Court comprising of Justice N.Kirubakaran and R.Pongiappan.
The petition was filed by a senior advocate Sudha Ramalingam demanding the establishment of group health insurance (Medic claim Policy ) for advocates who are registered with the bar council of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry and their dependent family members.
Taking note of the concern of advocates, the bench observed that “At present there are around 65000 advocates who are registered with bar council of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, having a certificate of the place of practice. Their interest ought to be given importance because they do not have any health insurance policy.”
The court further stated that this matter requires detailed information. Therefore, it directed that there is a need for a committee who can give suggestions about the matter, and on basis of those suggestions, the court can issue an appropriate order about medical insurance coverage.
The following persons are selected as a member of the said committee:
- Advocate General Vijay Narayan, according to the court he will be an appropriate person to interact with the government in case of any viable proposal by committee.
- Senior Advocate Sudha Ramalingam
- Advocate N Vijayaraghavan
- Advocate S Arunkumar
- Additional Solicitor General R Sankaranarayanan
- Advocate MR Sivasubramaniam
- P Manoharan (Former Senior Divisional Manager, National Insurance company Limited)
- Advocate CK Chandrasekaran (Standing counsel for Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry)
- Advocate Devika
It was noted that Advocate General PH Arvindh Pandian will be the coordinator of the committee and Member Secretary of Bar Council of Tamil Nadu andPuducherry will be the chairperson of the Committee.
