KARACHI, May 24: The Sindh Bar Council has sanctioned Rs 7.5 million for the dependants and legal heirs of deceased advocates in the province, SBC vice-chairman Noor Naz Agha told a news conference on Tuesday.

Recounting the decisions taken at the SBC meeting held at Sukkur on May 21 under the presidentship of its ex officio chairman, Advocate-General Anwar Mansoor Khan, she said the council allowed nine death claims and 105 applications for financial assistance to lawyers.

The advocates’ benevolent fund committee, meanwhile, accepted 12 death claims and extended financial assistance to 55 advocates.

The disciplinary committee constituted by the newly-elected SBC at its first meeting in Karachi on March 13, has already disposed of 14 cases. Four cases have been referred to the disciplinary tribunal, headed by Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, while one case was referred to the executive committee.

The executive committee working was found to be satisfactory. It was decided to approach the leading hospitals for concessional treatment of lawyers. The council asked the province’s bar associations to make or amend their rules and byelaws within three months and send them to the SBC office in the AG’s office in the Sindh High Court premises.

The council resolved to encourage adoption of uniform rules by the associations.

The council asked its members to stay away from the test venue at the time of the written examination and viva voce for enrolling advocates. It said its examination committee was fully empowered to conduct the test and lawyers should not interfere with its work.

The letter received from a parliamentary committee in respect of amendments to the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973, would be considered by the council at its meeting in Karachi on May 27.

The amendments deal with the number of seats allocated to the provincial bar councils and the duration of the qualifying practice for candidates.