Grant of Stipend to Junior Advocates Scheme

What is the Grant of Stipend to Junior Advocates Scheme?

The Grant of Stipend to Junior Advocates Scheme is a Law Department scheme of the Government of Puducherry, notified by G.O. Ms. No. 29/2020-LD dated 2 December 2020 as the "Government of Puducherry Grant of Stipend to Junior Advocates Scheme Rules, 2020". The Rules apply to the whole of the Union Territory of Puducherry and are deemed to have come into force with effect from 1 January 2018.

According to Rule 3, the object of the scheme is to provide monthly financial assistance to 25 young junior advocates in the Union Territory every year, for a period of two years or till starting independent practice, whichever is earlier, counted from the date of passing the All India Bar Examination.

The problem the scheme addresses is a real one. A law graduate in the first years of practice in Puducherry earns almost nothing while attached to a senior advocate. The stipend of Rs 5,000 a month is meant to make those first two years survivable, and in exchange the scheme extracts a set of obligations; legal aid work, court internship, and assisting the Government Pleader, that keep the young advocate in the courts rather than drifting away from the profession.

How much is the stipend, and how is it paid?

Rule 9 sets out the amounts and the payment mechanism:

The stipend is released by Direct Benefit Transfer to the beneficiary. The performance of junior advocates is reviewed once in six months before the period is extended further, so the two years are not automatic. They are four six-month renewals.

Over the full two years at Rs 5,000 a month, the total comes to Rs 1,20,000.

Who is eligible for the junior advocate stipend?

Rule 4 read with the definition of "Junior Advocate" in Rule 2(a) sets out the conditions.

You can apply if:

• You are a citizen of India.
• You are a native by birth, or a resident of the Union Territory of Puducherry for a continuous period of five years.
• You pursued your Law degree in a Government Law College.
• You are a Law Graduate enrolled in the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
• You have passed the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) conducted by the Bar Council of India.
• Your annual family income does not exceed Rs 2,00,000.
• You are not above 30 years of age.
• You will comply with Rule 6. The requisite conditions: throughout the period of financial assistance.

You are not eligible if:

• You are above 30 years of age.
• Your annual family income exceeds Rs 2,00,000.
• You have not passed the All India Bar Examination, or are not enrolled with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
• You did not pursue your Law degree in a Government Law College. Rule 4(ii) states this condition expressly, and it excludes graduates of private law colleges.
• You have neither been born in the Union Territory nor resided there continuously for five years.
• You have already started independent practice, since the assistance runs only until that point.

What documents are required?

Rule 5 lists the documents to be submitted with the application.

How to apply for the Grant of Stipend to Junior Advocates Scheme

1. Watch for the April call. Rule 5(vii) states that applications will be called for in the month of April, every year. There is no rolling window, so an application at any other time is out of season.
2. Attach yourself to a Senior Advocate and start attending the chamber. The attendance certificate from the Senior Advocate is a mandatory enclosure, and Rule 6 makes regular attendance at the chamber a continuing condition.
3. Get the two Revenue Department certificates — the income certificate showing annual family income not exceeding Rs 2,00,000, and the certificate of nativity by birth or five years' continuous residence, both from an officer not below the rank of Deputy Tahsildar.
4. Collect the Bar certificates, an attested copy of your Enrolment Certificate, an attested copy of the certificate evidencing your pass in the All India Bar Examination, and the attendance and conduct certificate issued by the President or Secretary of the Bar Association together with the Member Secretary of the Union Territory of Puducherry Legal Services Authority.
5. Submit the application to the right officer for your region. For the Puducherry region, the application goes to the General Secretary, Bar Association, Pondicherry. For the Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam regions, it goes to the respective President of the Bar Association concerned.
6. Sign the undertaking on refund. Before disbursement, the beneficiary gives an undertaking that if he or she leaves the profession within five years from the date of enrolment, other than by entering Government service, the entire stipend received will be refunded with 6 percent simple interest to the Government.

How are the 25 beneficiaries selected?

Rule 7 sets out the process, and it is more structured than most state schemes.

• The Member Secretary of the State Level Committee causes the credentials of applicants to be verified and forwards the eligible applications to the Committee.
• The State Level Committee selects the beneficiaries.
• The criteria for merit are the marks obtained in the qualifying examination, that is the Bachelor's Degree in Law, and the marks secured in the Class 12 Board examination, with negative marks for additional attempts.
• The Rule of reservation notified by the Government of Puducherry for Government employment is followed.
• One-third of the beneficiaries shall be women.
• The decision of the Committee is final.

The State Level Committee under Rule 2(c) is chaired by the Secretary to Government, Law Department, Puducherry, with the President, Bar Association, Pondicherry as Vice-Chairman. Its members are six members of Bar Associations: three nominated by the Pondicherry Bar Association and the Presidents of the Bar Associations of Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. The Deputy Secretary or Under Secretary of the Finance Department, and the Government Pleader, Puducherry. The Director of Prosecution, Law Department, is the Member Secretary.

Once selected, Rule 8 requires the Member Secretary to forward the list of beneficiaries to the Law Department for obtaining expenditure sanction from the Government.

What must a stipend holder do while drawing the money?

Rule 6 sets seven requisite conditions for the grant of the monthly stipend. A junior advocate shall:

1. Regularly attend the free legal aid camps conducted by the Union Territory of Puducherry Legal Services Authority.
2. Conduct the legal aid cases allotted by the Legal Aid Committee and the respective courts.
3. Assist the courts as an intern.
4. Regularly attend the chamber of the Senior Advocate with whom he or she is attached.
5. Obtain a regular practice certificate every three months from the President or Secretary of the Bar Association concerned.
6. Assist, on a rotation basis, the Government Pleader, Public Prosecutor, Additional Government Pleader, Additional Public Prosecutor, Assistant Government Pleader or Assistant Public Prosecutor within the concerned area of practice, for at least three months.
7. Accept that performance is reviewed once in six months before the stipend is extended further.

Failing any of these puts the next six-month extension at risk. The three-monthly practice certificate in particular is easy to forget and easy to be caught by.

Why an application may be rejected

• Above 30 years of age on application.
• Family income above Rs 2,00,000 in the certificate.
• Law degree not from a Government Law College, which Rule 4(ii) requires.
• AIBE not passed, or enrolment with a Bar Council other than Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
• Residence short of five years and no nativity by birth.
• Income or nativity certificate issued below the rank of Deputy Tahsildar.
• No Senior Advocate attendance certificate, or none from the Bar Association and the Legal Services Authority.
• Filed outside April, when applications are called.
• Not selected on merit. With 25 seats a year, selection turns on Law degree marks and Class 12 marks, with negative marking for additional attempts, and a fully eligible applicant may still miss out.

Where to apply and how to raise a grievance

Applications go to the General Secretary, Bar Association, Pondicherry for the Puducherry region, and to the President of the Bar Association of Karaikal, Mahe or Yanam for those regions. The Law Department, Government of Puducherry, publishes the scheme rules at law.py.gov.in.

Rule 10 provides the interpretation route: if any doubt arises as to the interpretation of the rules, it is referred to the Secretary to Government (Law), Puducherry, whose decision is final and binding. The notification was circulated to the Chief Judge, the Director of Prosecution, the Government Pleader, the Finance Department and the Bar Associations of all four regions, so those offices hold copies.

There is no application fee. No fee is payable to any person for the form, for submission or for selection under this scheme.

How to check your application status

The scheme has no online portal or tracking dashboard, and there is no helpline number published for it. Since the application itself is filed offline with a Bar Association official rather than a government department, status has to be followed up the same way: in person or through the Bar Association.

1. Confirm receipt with the office you filed at. For the Puducherry region that is the office of the General Secretary, Bar Association, Pondicherry. For Karaikal, Mahe or Yanam, it is the office of the President of the Bar Association concerned. Ask whether your application, along with the income certificate, nativity certificate and Bar enrolment papers, was forwarded to the Member Secretary of the State Level Committee for verification.
2. Track it through the verification stage. Under Rule 7, the Member Secretary verifies credentials before the State Level Committee meets to select the 25 beneficiaries for the year. A candidate can ask the Bar Association office whether their file has moved past this verification stage and reached the Committee.
3. Watch for the selection list. The State Level Committee's decision is final under Rule 7, and Rule 8 requires the Member Secretary to send the approved list to the Law Department for expenditure sanction. Selected candidates are typically informed through the Bar Association rather than individually by post or SMS, so checking with the Bar Association after the Committee has met is the practical way to learn the outcome.
4. Once sanctioned, watch your bank account. The stipend is paid by Direct Benefit Transfer under Rule 9, so a selected junior advocate confirms payment has started by checking for the credit in the bank account linked at the time of application, not through any separate status page.
5. During the two-year period, status means the six-month review. Rule 6 makes continuation conditional on a review every six months. A stipend holder should proactively confirm with the Bar Association and the Legal Services Authority that their attendance certificates, the three-monthly practice certificate, and the Senior Advocate's attendance record are all on file before each review, rather than waiting to be told the extension was denied.
6. For any doubt on where a file stands, Rule 10 routes interpretation questions to the Secretary to Government (Law), Puducherry, whose decision is final. A written query to the Law Department is the fallback if the Bar Association office cannot clarify the status of a specific application.