Advocates Act,1961

Introduction
• To implement the recommendations of the All India
Bar Committee (fully endorsed by fourteenth Report
of the Law Commission in 1955), the Advocates Act,
1961 one was enacted.
• The Act extends to the whole of India
• The Act provides for amending and consolidating
the law relating to legal practitioners and to provide
for the constitution of State Bar Councils and an All
India Bar Council (for the first time in India).
• The Act took away the powers till
then vested in the Courts, in the
matter of admission of advocates
and the maintenance of the rolls, and
their disciplinary conduct (subject to
an ultimate appeal to the Supreme
Court).
• These powers now vest in the Bar
Councils.
 Objects and reason of the act
1. Establishment of an All India Bar Council and a
number of State Bar Councils – a federal structure
for legal profession. An advocate is initially enrolled
with a State Bar Council and a common roll of all
the advocates in the country is maintained by All
India Bar Council. An advocate on common roll has
a right to practice in any court of the country
including the Supreme Court.
2. A uniform qualification for the admission as
advocates viz, degree in law.
3. Division of advocates into senior advocates and
other advocates based on merit.
4. No advocate can get himself enrolled with more
than one State Bar Council, though he can get
himself transferred from one State Bar Council to
 Bar Council of India(Sec-4)
• Composition – The Bar Council of
India consists of
(a) the Attorney-General of India ex-
officio
(b) the Solicitor-General, ex-officio,
(c) one member elected by each State
Bar Council from amongst its
members.
 Bar Council to be Body Corporate
(Sec-5)
• Every Bar Council constituted under
the Act is a body corporate having a
common seal, and may, by the name
of which it is known can sue or be
sued.
 Committees(sec-9&10)
• The Bar Council of India has been
authorised to constitute one or more
of the following committees:
(1) Legal Aid Committee
(2) Disciplinary Committee
(3) Executive Committee
(4) Enrolment Committee
(5) Legal Education Committee,
• Every Disciplinary Committee is to consist of
three members, two persons to be elected from
amongst its members and one other to be co-
opted from such members as have at least ten
years’ practice. The senior-most advocate from
amongst its members is to be chairman of the
committee.
• The Legal Education Committee consists of ten
members of whom five persons elected by the
Council from amongst its members and the
other five are those who are not members of the
Council.
• The executive committee consists of 9 members
elected by the council amongst its members.
 Functions(sec-7)
(1) To prepare and maintain a common roll/roster of all
the advocates in the country.
(2) To lay down standards of professional conduct and
etiquette for advocates and rules regarding
enrolment, suspension, etc., of advocates.
(3) To safeguard the rights, privileges and interests of
advocates.
(4) To exercise general supervision and control over
State Bar Councils, to deal with and dispose of any
matter arising under Act, which may be referred to
it by a State Bar Council.
(5) To promote and support law reforms.
(6) To promote legal education and to lay down
standards of such education in consultation with
Universities and State Bar Councils.
(7) To recognize Universities whose degree will
qualify a person to be enrolled as an advocate and
to recognize foreign law degrees,
(8) To conduct seminars and talks on legal matters
and to publish legal journals.
(9) To organize legal aid to the poor.
(10) To manage and invest the funds of the Bar
Council.
(11) To provide for the election of its members.
 Powers
• The Bar Council of India (BCI) has been
specifically conferred special powers,
(1) Power to remove name from the rolls-
 The BCI is empowered, either on a
reference made to it or otherwise, if it is
satisfied that any person has got his name
entered in the roll of the Advocates by
misrepresentation, to remove such person from
the roll after giving him an opportunity of being
heard.
 Besides, the name of advocate may be
removed from the roll as punishment for
misconduct in disciplinary proceedings.
(2) Revision-

 Apart From the power vested in it to remove the

name of an advocate in certain cases, and the power
vested in the disciplinary committee to hear and
dispose of the disciplinary matters whether by way of
original hearing or on appeal, the BCI has the power
at any time to call for the record of any proceeding
under the Act which has been disposed of by a State
Bar Council or a Committee thereof, and from which
no appeal lies, for satisfying itself as to the legality or
propriety of such a disposal and may pass such
orders thereon as it deemed fit.
(3) Directives
 Section 48B empowers the BCI for the proper and
efficient discharge of the functions of a State Bar
Council or any Committee thereof, to give such
directions to the State Bar Council or its Committee
as may appear it to be necessary, and the latter has
to comply with the directions.
(4) Rule-making power
 Section 15 enumerates the powers of the State Bar
Councils/BCI to make rules relating to the Bar
Councils. Section 28 gives power to the State Bar
Councils to make rules on some matters connected
with the preparation of rolls, training and examination
for admission as advocates, form of application for
enrolment, and conditions for enrolment. Any rule
made by State Bar Council shall have effect only if it
• The bar council of India, have been given wide
powers to frame rules for the successful
implementation of the provisions and objectives of
the act.
• The rules must, however be consistent with the act.
• The Sc has invalidated a rule made by BCI which
require law graduates to take one year training with
a practicing lawyer on the ground that under the
advocates act,1961, legal education must be
imparted by universities and not by legal profession.
• Also invalidated ban on evening law college
 Advocates Welfare Fund
• The Advocates Welfare Fund Act,2001 makes
provisions for the creation of the fund to be
used among others for making ex-gratia grant
to a member
– in a case of a serious illness;
– payment of a fixed amount on cessation of
practice and
– in case of death, to his nominee or legal heir:
medical and educational facilities for members
and their dependants;
– Purchase of books and for common facilities for
advocates.
 State bar council (Sec- 3)
• The state bar councils are named after
the states though a few bar council are
common to 2 or more states and in some
cases union territories are also covered
by them.
• For e.g states of Arunachal Pradesh,
Assam, Manipur, Meghalya, Mizoram,
Manipur and Tripura is one.
• Pondicherry in madras, Lakshadweep in
Kerala
 Composition
(a)the Advocate General of state, ex
officio; or the Additional Solicitor-
General of India, ex officio;(Delhi)
(b)Chairman
(c)Vice chairman
• In the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate not
exceeding five thousand, fifteen members,
• in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate exceeding
five thousand but not exceeding ten thousand, twenty members,
• and in the case of the State Bar Council with an electorate
exceeding ten thousand, twenty-five members, elected in
accordance with the system of proportional representation by
means of the single transferable vote from amongst advocates
on the electoral roll of the State Bar Council:
• Provided that as nearly as possible one-half of such elected
members shall subject to any rules that may be made in this
behalf by the Bar Council of India, be persons who have for at
least ten years been advocates on a State roll, and in computing
the said period of ten years in relation to any such person, there
shall be included any period during which the person has been
an advocate enrolled under the Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926.
 Committees
• Every state bar council has :
– an executive committee of five members
– an enrollment committee consisting of 3
members and
– one or more disciplinary committee consisting of
3 person, two of whom must be members and 3rd
co-opted advocate of 10 years standing.
• A state bar council may also constitute one
or more legal aid committees and such other
committees as it may deem necessary for
the purpose of the act
 Functions(Sec- 6)
1. to admit persons as advocates on its roll.
2. to prepare and maintain such roll
3. to entertain and determine cases of
misconduct against advocates on its roll
4. to safeguard the rights, privileges and
interest of advocates on its roll
5. to promote and support law reform
6. to conduct seminars and organize talks on
legal topics by eminent jurists and publish
journals and papers of legal interest.
7. to organize legal aid to the poor in the
prescribed manner
8. to manage and invest the funds of the Bar
Council
9. to provide for the election of its members.
10. to visit and inspect Universities in
accordance with the directions given under
the act
11. to perform all other functions conferred on it
by or under this Act;
12. to do all other things necessary for
discharging the aforesaid functions
Disqualification of members of Bar
Council.
• An elected member of a Bar Council shall
be deemed to have vacated his office if
he is declared by the Bar Council of which
he is a member to
– have been absent without sufficient excuse
from three consecutive meetings of such
Council, or
– if his name is, for any cause, removed from
the roll of advocates or
– if he is otherwise disqualified under any rule
made by the Bar Council of India.
 Election to Bar Councils not to be
questioned on certain grounds(sec- 14)
• No election of a member to a Bar
Council shall be called in question
on the ground merely that due notice
thereof has not been given to any
person entitled to vote threat, if
notice of the date has, not less than
thirty days before that date, been
published in the Official Gazette.
 Senior and other advocates(sec-
17)
• There shall be two classes of advocates,
namely, senior advocates and other advocates.
• An advocate may, with his consent, be
designated as senior advocate if the Supreme
Court or a High Court is of opinion that by virtue
of his ability 1[standing at the Bar or special
knowledge or experience in law] he is deserving
of such distinction.
• Senior advocates shall, in the matter of their
practice, be subject to such restrictions as the Bar
Council of India may, in the interest of the legal
profession, prescribe.
 Transfer of name from one State
roll to another.(sec-18)
• Notwithstanding anything contained in section 17, any
person whose name is entered as an advocate on the roll of
any State Bar Council may make an application in the
prescribed form to the Bar Council of India for the transfer
of his name from the roll of that State Bar Council to the roll
of any other State Bar Council
• On receipt of any such application the Bar Council of India
shall direct that the name of such person shall without the
payment of any fee, be removed from the roll of the first
mentioned State Bar Council and entered in the roll of the
other State Bar Council and the State Bar Councils
concerned shall comply with such direction.
• For the removal of doubts it is hereby declared that where
on an application made by an advocate , his name is
• Exception:
• Where any such application for transfer is made
by a person against whom any disciplinary
proceeding is pending or where for any other
reason it appears to the Bar Council of India that
the application for transfer has not been made
bona fide and that the transfer should not be
made, the Bar Council of India may, after giving
the person making the application an
opportunity of making a representation in this
behalf, reject the application.
Disputes regarding seniority (Sec-
21.)
• Where the date of seniority of two or
more persons is the same, the one
senior in age shall be reckoned as
senior to the other.
• Subject as aforesaid, if any dispute
arise with respect to the seniority of
any person, it shall be referred to the
State Bar Council concerned for
decision.
Persons who may be admitted as
advocates on a State roll(Sec-24)
• (a) he is a citizen of India:
• (b) he has completed the age of
twenty-one years;
• (c) he has obtained a degree in law
 Disqualification for enrolment
(SeC-24A)
(1) No person shall be admitted as an
advocate on a State roll—
(a) if he is convicted of an offence involving
moral turpitude;
(b) if he is convicted of an offence under
the provisions of the Untouchability
(Offences) Act, 1955 (22 of 1955);
(c) if he is dismissed or removed from
employment or office under the State on
any charge involving moral turpitude.
Power to remove names from roll (Sec- 26A)

• A State Bar Council may remove

from the State roll the name of any
advocate who is dead or from whom
a request has been received to that
effect.
 Application once refused not to be
entertained by another Bar Council except in
certain circumstances (SEC-27)
• Where a State Bar Council has refused
the application of any person for
admission as an advocate on its roll, no
other State Bar Council shall entertain an
application for admission of such person
as an advocate on its roll, except with
the previous consent in writing of the
State Bar Council which refused the
application and of the Bar Council of
India.
 Right of advocates to practice
(Sec-30)
• Subject to provisions of this Act, every advocate
whose name is entered in the State roll shall be
entitled as of right to practice throughout the
territories to which this Act extends,—
(i) in all courts including the Supreme Court;
(ii) before any tribunal or person legally
authorized to take evidence; and
(iii) before any other authority or person before
whom such advocate is by or under any law for
the time being in force entitled to practice.
 Punishment of Advocate for
misconduct
• Where on receipt of a complaint or otherwise a
State Bar Council has reason to believe that any
advocate on its roll has been guilty of
professional or other misconduct, it shall refer the
case for disposal to its disciplinary committee.
• The State Bar Council may, either of its own
motion or on application made to it by any person
interested, withdraw a proceeding pending before
its disciplinary committee and direct the inquiry
to be made by any other disciplinary committee
of that State Bar Council.
• The disciplinary committee of a State Bar Council shall
fix a date for the hearing of the case and shall cause a
notice thereof to be given to the advocate concerned.
• The disciplinary committee of a State Bar Council after
giving the advocate concerned an opportunity of being
heard, may make any of the following orders, namely:—
(a) dismiss the complaint
(b) reprimand the advocate;
(c) suspend the advocate from practice for such period
as it may deem fit;
(d) remove the name of the advocate from the State
roll of advocates.
• Where an advocate is suspended
from practice under , he shall, during
the period of suspension, be
debarred from practicing in any court
or before any authority or person in
India.
 Disciplinary powers of Bar Council
of India(sec-36)
• Where on receipt of a complaint or otherwise the
Bar Council of India has reason to believe that any
advocate whose name is not entered on any State
roll has been guilty of professional or other
misconduct, it shall refer the case for disposal to its
disciplinary committee.
• Notwithstanding anything contained in this Chapter,
the disciplinary committee of the Bar Council of
India may, either of its own motion or on a report by
a State Bar Council or on an application made to it
by any person interested, withdraw for inquiry
before itself any proceedings for disciplinary action
• The disciplinary committee of the Bar
Council of India, in disposing of any case
under this section, shall observe, so far as
may be, the procedure laid down in section
35.
• In disposing of any proceedings under this
section the disciplinary committee of the
Bar Council of India may make any order
which the disciplinary committee of a State
Bar Council can make under section 35.
Changes in constitution of disciplinary committees
(Sec 36A. )

• Whenever in respect of any proceedings under

section 35 or section 36, a disciplinary committee
of the State Bar Council or a disciplinary
committee of the Bar Council of India ceases to
exercise jurisdiction and is succeeded by another
committee which has and exercises jurisdiction,
the disciplinary committee of the State Bar
Council or the disciplinary committee of the Bar
Council of India, as the case may be, so
succeeding may continue the proceeding from
the stage at which the proceedings were so left
by its predecessor committee.
Disposal of disciplinary proceedings (Sec- 36B)

• The disciplinary committee of a State Bar

Council shall dispose of the complaint
received by it under section 35 expeditiously
and in each case the proceedings shall be
concluded within a period of one year from
the date of the receipt of the complaint or the
date of initiation of the proceedings at the
instance of the State Bar Council, as the case
may be, failing which such proceedings shall
stand transferred to the Bar Council of India
which may dispose of the same.
• where on the commencement of the Advocates
(Amendment) Act, 1973 (60 of 1973), any proceedings
in the respect of any disciplinary matter against an
advocate is pending before the disciplinary committee
of a State Bar Council, that disciplinary committee of
the State Bar Council shall dispose of the same within
a period of six months from the date of such
commencement or within a period of one year from
the date of the receipt of the complaint or, as the case
may be the date of initiation of the proceedings at the
instance of the State Bar Council, whichever is later,
failing which such other proceedings shall stand
transferred to the Bar Council of India for disposal.
 Appeal to the Bar Council of India
(Sec-37)
• Any person aggrieved by an order of the
disciplinary committee of a State Bar Council
made under section 35 may, within sixty days of
the date of the communication of the order to
him, prefer an appeal to the Bar Council of India.
• Every such appeal shall be heard by the
disciplinary committee of the Bar Council of
India which may pass such order (including an
order varying the punishment awarded by the
disciplinary committee of the State Bar Council)
thereon as it deems fit:
Appeal to the Supreme Court (sec-
38)
• Any person aggrieved by an order made by
the disciplinary committee of the Bar
Council of India under section 36 or section
37, as the case may be, may within sixty
days of the date on which the order is
communicated to him, prefer an appeal to
the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court
may pass such order [(including an order
varying the punishment awarded by the
disciplinary committee of the Bar Council of
India)] thereon as it deems fit.
 Powers of disciplinary
committee(Sec. 42)
• The disciplinary committee of a Bar Council shall have the
same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code
of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), in respect of the
following matters, namely:—
(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any
person and examining him on oath;
(b) requiring discovery and production of any documents;
(c) receiving evidence on affidavits;
(d) requisitioning any public record or copies thereof from
any court or office;
(e) issuing commissions for the examination of witness or
documents;
(f) any other matter which may be prescribed
• All proceedings before a disciplinary
committee of a Bar Council shall be
deemed to be judicial proceedings within
the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of
the Indian Penal Code, 1860(45 of 1860),
and every such disciplinary committee
shall be deemed to be a civil court for
the purposes of sections 480, 482 and
485 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1898 (5 of 1898).
 48. Indemnity against legal
proceedings
• No suit or other legal proceeding
shall lie against any Bar Council or
any committee thereof or a member
of a Bar Council [or any Committee
thereof] for any act in good faith
done or intended to be done in
pursuance of the provisions of this
Act or of any rules made thereunder.
 Power of revision (Sec 48A)
• The Bar Council of India may, at any time, call
for the record of any proceeding under this Act
which has been disposed of by a State Bar
Council or a Committee thereof, and from which
no appeal lies, for the purpose of satisfying itself
as to the legality or propriety of such disposal
and may pass such orders in relation thereto as
it may think fit.
• No order which prejudicially affects any person
shall be passed under this section without giving
him a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
 General power of the Bar Council of
India to make rules (Sec- 49)
• The Bar Council of India may make rules for
discharging its functions under this Act, and, in
particular, such rules may prescribe—
– the conditions subject to which an advocate may
be entitled to vote at an election to the State Bar
Council including the qualifications or
disqualifications of voters, and the manner in which
an electoral roll of voters may be prepared and
revised by a State Bar Council;
– qualifications for membership of a Bar Council and
the disqualifications for such membership;
• the manner in which the seniority
among advocates may be determined;
• The standard of professional conduct
and etiquette to be observed by
advocates
• The standards of legal education to be
observed by universities in India and
the inspection of universities for that
purpose