The Bar Association of the Supreme Court (further, “SCBA”) has intimated the relaxing of conditions which are used to determine the eligibility of individuals who can avail the grant scheme provided concerning COVID-19. This was done to extend the benefit of the scheme to a larger group of people who are desirous to avail the benefits. The following relaxations have been introduced to further this cause;

1. The Grant Scheme is not extended to all individuals who are members of the SCBA which includes all members in the rolls of SCBA up till March 2020.
2. All members who have completed their Annual Subscription payments till 2018 are not eligible to avail the benefits of the scheme.
3. The members applying for the scheme have to produce records containing a minimum of ten appearances before the Hon’ble Supreme Court between the tenure of January 2019 till the date on which application is filed.
4. Any member who is diagnosed with the plausibility of being affected by the novel virus will now be eligible to receive a sum of Rs. 25,000/- after the submission of valid documents on the diagnosis to the concerned authorities. All documents should be submitted with a declaration of authenticity, the failure of which will render the grant void and the amount extended will be taken back.
5. The Executive Committee of the SCBA will analyse and scrutinise every such application in good faith and the designated amount will be transferred upon sanction by the committee. As such, the Executive Committee retains sole authority and discretion in the matter.
6. The IT returns of all applicants during the year 2018-19 will be assessed by the committee and all person earring less than Rs. 8,00,000/- per financial year will be eligible for the grant.
7. July 15th, 2020 stands as the final date for applying for the grant via electronic mail to the SCBA, except those who are applying for the grant based on a COVID-19 diagnosis. 

As such, the SCBA along with its Executive Committee has extended vital reconsiderations in relaxing the thresholds to be met before availing the grant. This is done in furtherance to aid the members working in the legal profession and enable them to combat the novel virus which is causing grave economic and social repercussions in the economy.