The Allahabad High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to consider increasing the ₹5 lakh financial assistance currently provided to dependents of advocates who die prematurely, noting that the amount has remained unchanged for more than a decade.
A Division Bench of Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Garima Prashad also directed the authorities to take steps to clear pending compensation applications without further delay.
Background of the Case
The directions came in Jyotima v. State of U.P. and 2 Others, Writ-C No. 22219 of 2026. The petition raised the issue of interest on delayed payment of ₹5 lakh compensation under the Financial Assistance Scheme for Advocates.
The Court noted that the Financial Assistance Scheme was introduced through a 2015 Government Order, fixing compensation at ₹5 lakh. The scheme initially had a corpus of ₹20 crore, which has now grown to ₹330 crore. Despite this increase, the compensation amount has remained the same.
The Bench also examined delays in processing applications. It was informed that 1,207 applications were pending because of deficiencies in documents and verification. The Court questioned why incomplete applications were being forwarded by the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to the Trust instead of ensuring that the required documents were submitted first.
The Court further examined how the Trust was funding compensation payments. It noted that only the interest generated from the corpus was being used. The interest was stated to be about ₹5.64 crore per quarter, or approximately ₹22.4 crore annually, which could cover only around 440 applications.
The Bench directed the Trust to seek additional financial assistance from the State Government for clearing the remaining 939 applications. If payment was delayed, the Trust was permitted to liquidate fixed deposits forming part of the corpus to ensure compensation was paid without undue delay.
The Court observed that more than ten years had passed since the ₹5 lakh amount was fixed, while the scheme’s corpus had increased substantially.
“Let the Government come up with an affidavit as to what amount it proposes to enhance towards the compensation under financial assistance scheme, and we leave it to the wisdom of the State Government.”
The Bench directed the State Government to file an affidavit stating the amount it proposes to provide as enhanced compensation.
It also directed the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to file an affidavit setting out guidelines for expeditiously forwarding applications submitted by dependents of deceased advocates.
Case Details:
- Case Title: Jyotima v. State of U.P. and 2 Others
- Case Number: Writ-C No. 22219 of 2026
- Judge: Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Garima Prashad
- Decision Date: August 17, 2026
