Calcutta, Dec. 21: The state bar council is pressuring the government to implement a law passed 15 years ago to grant lawyers provident fund and gratuity.

But the question of who will sell “stamps” to raise funds for the programme has made the implementation of the law doubtful, though the government has released Rs 60 lakh to create the initial corpus.

According to the West Bengal Advocates’ Welfare Fund (Amendment) Act, 1992, litigants have to buy a Rs 10 stamp while filing a case in the high court (Rs 5 for lower courts).

“We have requested the government to sell the stamps through its vendors (that sell stamp papers, for example),” bar council chairman Arun Kumar Sarkar said.

But the government does not want to sell stamps for lawyers’ welfare because it would create an impression among litigants that they were paying more to the exchequer, a law department official said.

The court fees — from Rs 20-100 — litigants now pay go to the government.

A bar council delegation met law minister Rabilal Moitra last week to enquire about the government’s stand.

Moitra said: “We have no objection to raising funds by selling stamps. But the bar council has to take the initiative of printing the stamps and selling them.”

Saradindu Biswas, an executive member of the council, said: “It is very difficult for us to sell stamps. We don’t have the infrastructure.”

A token contribution — between Rs 50 and 150 a year depending on the number of years in practice — and 30 years of uninterrupted work will make a lawyer eligible for the provident fund and gratuity.

Sarkar said: “The state has released Rs 60 lakh. The council has given Rs 11 lakh.”

There are over 200 courts in Bengal and around 3,600 cases are filed everyday. Stamps for lawyers’ welfare — on every new case — are likely to generate over Rs 40 lakh a year.

Sarkar felt the government was now keen to implement the law. “Most other states have done it.”

Asked why the bar council took so long to push for the implementation of the law, a council executive member accused the government of being deaf to its pleas.

A law department officer said the government had been dragging its feet as “most of the council members owe allegiance to Opposition parties”.

High court lawyer Rabishankar Chattopadhyay said many would benefit if the law is implemented. “Only 5 per cent of the 60,000-odd lawyers are financially sound. The rest live in a distressed condition.”

The first batch to get the PF will be the lawyers completing 30 years of practice in 2022.