SENIOR ADVOCATE Kapil Sibal, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, who has raised Rs 50 crore from a few big industrialists to fund a group medical insurance policy for the Bar’s members, has met with opposition from a section within the association.
“As the new SCBA president, my first endeavour will be to discuss this policy in the Executive Committee meeting… My personal view is that this policy definitely needs to be renegotiated or scrapped, because the premium that we are paying for a Rs 2 lakh cover is highly disproportionate to the premium that we pay for a Rs 5 lakh cover,” Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, who was elected the new president of the Bar body last week, told .
At a General Body Meeting of the SCBA on May 5, Singh had expressed his opposition. To a question on whether Sibal’s endeavour raised issues of conflict of interest, Singh said it depends on whether these are CSR funds.
“There is no conflict if its not CSR funds as the money is given to the association and not to any individual,” he said.
When contacted, Sibal said, “There is no conflict of interest here. Where is the question? The donation is to the association and not to any member. Moreover, personally, I have and may appear again against or in favour of many of these companies. And I charge them. Our professional career is not based on our friendships.”
Sibal said Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries) contributed Rs 10 crore, while Anil Ambani (Reliance Group), Gautam Adani (Adani Group), N Chandrasekharan ( Sons), Samir Mehta (Torrent Group), G M Rao (GMR Group), Kumar Mangalam Birla (Aditya Birla Group), Anil Aggarwal (Vedanta) and Lakshmi Mittal (ArcelorMittal) gave Rs 5 crore each.
He said corporates would get tax exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. Donations made to specified institutions are allowed to be deducted from the taxable income under Section 80G.
SCBA’s new President Singh said his attempt would be (to ensure) that this policy was made available only to needy members of the Bar or members who support elderly parents. “It should not be made available for people like us. The policy, as announced by the earlier Executive Committee, is meant for everybody, including me, Mr Sibal etc. This kind of money can never be utilised for that…All this will be done only after discussing with my Executive Committee.”
According to Sibal, 95 per cent of lawyers practicing in the Supreme Court do not earn well. “They come from all over the country to …to practise…most of them are not earning well… they have to spend money on rent, their families… and if they fall ill, have to foot medical bills.” He said there are about 2,700-2,800 members of the SCBA who have voting rights, and will be eligible for the health cover.
Addressing an event organised by the SCBA on May 21, Sibal explained how he went about raising the money. “I started sort of collecting from those who I have served for the last 52 years… I rang up Anil Aggarwal of Vedanta. He readily agreed and gave us a contribution of Rs 5 crore. I rang up Anil Ambani, a dear friend of mine, and he had no choice but to say yes. So he gave Rs 5 crore. I rang up the GMR Group, both Mr Rao as well as Mr Bhaskar Chandran… and they said, ‘Sir, now that you have asked, we will make sure that it happens’, and it happened, Rs 5 crore,” said Sibal.
“I rang up Gautam Adani, and I said it’s time for you to contribute because you are more or less the emperor of India now and Rs 5 crore is too little for you. He said if you want more, I will give more, but here is Rs 5 crore. So he gave Rs 5 crore,” Sibal said. “Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, again an old friend of mine… served the Birla empire for many years…never asked them for anything. So I said, another Rs 5 crore from you, and he said yes,” he said.
“Then I rang up another friend of mine, Lakshmi Mittal from London. He picked up the phone and I made that request. He said somebody will get in touch with you soon. So he gave Rs 5 crore,” he said. “Then again, Mukesh Ambani. I knew Dhirubhai Ambani when I was a young lawyer and we had a very warm relationship…These boys were kids and they used to come to me and I used to do most of their matters in Bombay. So I asked him and he said how much do you want. I said Rs 10 crore. He said you will have the cheque soon. So he gave Rs 10 crore,” Sibal said.
“Then I rang up Natarajan Chandrasekaran of Tata, whom I also know very well…and he also did not hesitate. So he gave Rs 5 crore,” the senior counsel said. “And from the Torrent Group, Mr Samir Mehta, again a good friend of mine, and, in fact, Dushyant Dave told me, if he doesn’t give it, let me know, I will make a call to him. But it didn’t really happen. I asked him, he gave Rs 5 crore… In this process, we have Rs 50 crore with us,” Sibal said.
He also outlined what was done after raising the amount. “I contacted Apollo group, who are also my clients. I know the head of the family, head of the Apollo group is an old friend of mine. So I said look, we want you to handle this. He sort of looked at the market and got hold of a company called the National Insurance Company. And we started talking to the National Insurance Company as to what kind of benefits our young lawyers can get. I want to tell you… there is no insurance policy in this country that gives so many benefits as this one does,” he said.
Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, who also addressed the event, congratulated the SCBA for raising Rs 50 crore. “Undoubtedly, this is a remarkable achievement that reflects deep concern for the welfare of the legal community,” he said.
Pointing to the difficulties that young lawyers face with no regular income to meet their needs, the CJI said: “Providing good health insurance, therefore, is not just a welfare measure, it is a vital support system. It offers the lawyers a degree of financial security and peace of mind in times of medical need.”
He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with The Indian Express, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit.
