IMPORTANT POINT
Eligibility for life insurance benefits under the Chief Minister Advocate Welfare Scheme requires verification of credentials, which was not completed before the claimant's death.

JUDGMENT :

(Sanjeev Narula, J.)

1. Mrs. Darshana Rani, the Petitioner, a widow and senior citizen, seeks directions for payment of life insurance claim of INR 10 Lakhs under the Chief Minister Advocate Welfare Scheme,[“CMAWS”] on account of the death of her son, Late Sh. Kamal Khurana, Advocate.

2. The CMAWS was introduced by Government of NCT of Delhi,[“GNCTD”] vide Cabinet Decision No. 2794 dated 18th December, 2019, for the benefit of Advocates enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi,[“BCD”], who are the residents of Delhi. The stated object of the scheme is to recognise the role and contributions of Advocates in society and the growth of the legal fraternity, in terms of building a strong democracy, encouraging active citizen engagement as well as participation in nation building. The scheme was approved by the Cabinet in 2019 and an annual outlay of INR 50 Crores was created for implementation of the scheme.

3. To enhance the welfare of advocates, benefits under the scheme included: Group (Term) Insurance policy of Life Insurance Corporation of India,[“LIC”], providing a life cover of Rs. 10 Lakhs per advocate; Group Medi-claim coverage through New India Assurance Company Ltd,[“NIACL”] for the Advocate, their spouse and two dependent children upto the age of 25 years, under a family floater sum insurance of upto INR 5 Lakhs; and other benefits such as E-libraries and Creche facilities in 6 District Courts of Delhi.

4. In order to streamline the process of inviting applications under CMAWS, in March 2023 a Standard Operating Procedure,[“SOP”] was framed by Respondent No. 1 - Department of Law, Justice & Legislative Affairs, GNCTD,[“Law Department”] with the approval of Minister (Law) of GNCTD. As per the said SOP, online applications for fresh enrolment under the CMAWS are invited twice a year, during the months of January and July respectively. In order to be eligible under the CMAWS, an applicant is required to submit their enrolment details with the BCD as well as documents establishing that they are on the electoral role of GNCTD. It has been clarified that an advocate can only be conferred the benefit of the CMAWS if his/her Enrolment Number and Electors Photo Identification Card,[“EPIC”]/Voter ID card numbers are duly verified by the BCD and the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, GNCTD, respectively.

5. Pertinently, when the CMAWS was first introduced, the Group (Term) Insurance Policy taken by GNCTD from LIC was valid for one year. It therefore needed to be renewed at the expiry of the term period. In this regard, all beneficiaries/advocates were required to re-register themselves and get verifications with the CMAWS afresh, whenever a notice to this effect is issued by Respondent No. 1 - Law Department, GNCTD.

6. Respondent No. 1 submits that initially in the first phase of the CMAWS around 37,145 advocates submitted their applications for registration. After the final verification process for the scheme, the Department entered into a contract with LIC to provide the Group (Term) Insurance to 21,964 advocates, who were found to be eligible. Thereafter, the first policy came into effect from 20th November, 2020 to 19th November, 2021 for period of one year.

7. In 2021, prior to the expiry of the Group Term Insurance Policy, the Law Department requested LIC to continue the same policy with effect from 20th November, 2021, however, LIC refused to do so under the existing terms and conditions, as well as premium rates. Under these circumstances, the BCD approached this Court through W.P.(C) 13010/2021 titled Bar Council of Delhi v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi seeking necessary directions to ensure continuation of the Group Term Insurance Policy. In this regard, the Court on 18th November 2021, directed extension of the policy in favour of the existing members on a pro-rata basis for one month, while the Law Department and LIC engaged in negotiations over the premium rates and other terms and conditions of the Group (Term) Life I