T.L.ANANTHASIVAN Vs. GOVERNMENT OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellant is an advocate and a member of the Kerala Advocates' Welfare Fund, hereinafter called the 'Fund'. That Fund is constituted under the Kerala Advocates' Welfare Fund Act, 1980; for short, the 'Welfare Fund Act'. Section 16 of that Act is to the effect that the payment due to a member of the Fund under that Act will be paid only on "cessation of practice" as defined in section 2(d) of that Act. Appellant sought a declaration that such provision is violative of articles 14 and 19(i)(g) of the Constitution of India and the provisions of the Advocates Act, 1961. That challenge failed at the hands of the learned single Judge. Hence this appeal.

(2.) Heard the respective learned senior counsel; for the appellant, the Fund and the Bar Council of Kerala.

(3.) The thrust of the submissions on behalf of the appellant is that the terms of section 16 of the Act read with section 2(d), which defines the term "cessation of practice", result in compelling an advocate to stop practice; to receive the payments due to that person as a member of the Fund; and, this results in depriving that advocate of the statutory eligibility to practice in terms of the provisions of the Advocates Act and the constitutional rights emanating out of articles 14 and 19(i)(g) of the Constitution. It is argued that this is all the more so because such compulsion to stop practice as an advocate; for the purpose of the provisions of a State legislation; amounts to deprivation of the rights of that person to practice as an advocate elsewhere in India, as well. It is also argued that the terms relating to payment into the Fund are also indicative of the fact that payment out of the Fund as per section 16 of the Welfare Fund Act cannot be bridled with any restrictive covenant in the form of the impugned imposition.