Vande Matram! In this article, I am discussing State Bar Council. The organisation, power, and functions of the State Bar Council are in the light of the Bar Council of India rule and the Advocates’ Act, 1961. Let’s begin.
State
Bar Council:
Introduction:
Advocates’
Act 1961 governs the legal profession in India and for the association purpose of
all the legal practitioners the Act provides for the constitution of the Bar Council of
India and State Bar Councils across the territory of India. There are about 21 State Bar Councils in India that are working for the betterment of advocates in
their respective jurisdictions.
S
R Das committee i.e. All India Bar Committee headed by S R Das through the
report of March 1953 proposed for the creation of a bar council for each state
and an all India bar council as an apex body. It was suggested that the all-India bar council would regulate the legal profession and set the standard of
legal education.
The
State Bar Councils are statutory bodies established under Section 3 of the
Advocates Act, 1961. These are the statutory bodies for all the states and
union territories of India. They regulate the rules for the legal profession
and education in their respective states and also act as the representatives of
the advocates of that state, thereby acting in their interests. Further Section
6 provides for the functions of State Bar Council, Section 15 provides for the
powers of a Bar Council.
3. State Bar Councils.―(1) There shall be a Bar
Council—
(a) for each of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu
and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Orissa,
Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Meghalya, Manipur and Tripura, to be
known as the Bar Council of that State;
(b) for the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram and Nagaland
to be known as the Bar Council of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram and
Nagaland;
(c) for the State of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep
to be known as the Bar Council of Kerala;
(cc) for the State of Tamil Nadu and the Union territory of
Pondicherry to be known as the Bar
Council of Madras;
(ccc) for the States of Maharashtra and Goa and the Union
territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and and Daman and Diu, to be known as the
Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa;
(d) for the States of Punjab and Haryana and the Union territory of
Chandigarh, to be known as the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana;
(dd) for the State of Himachal Pradesh, to be known as the Bar
Council of Himachal Pradesh;
(e) for the State of West Bengal and the Union territory of Andaman
and Nicobar Islands, to be known as the Bar Council of West Bengal; and
(f) for the Union territory of Delhi, to be known as the Bar Council
of Delhi.
(2) A State Bar Council shall consist of the following members,
namely:―
(a) in the case of the State Bar Council of Delhi, the Additional Solicitor-General
of India, ex officio; in the case of the State Bar Councils of Assam, Arunachal
Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland, the Advocate-General of each of the States of
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland ex officio; in the case of the
State Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, the Advocate-General of each of the
States of Punjab and Haryana, ex officio; and in the case of any other State
Bar Council, the Advocate-General of the State, ex officio;
(b) 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 a 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 (38 of 1926).
(3) There shall be a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman of each State Bar
Council elected by the Council in such manner as may be prescribed.
(3A) Every person holding office as Chairman or as Vice-Chairman of
any State Bar Council immediately before the commencement of the Advocates
(Amendment) Act, 1977 (38 of 1977), shall, on such commencement, cease to hold
office as Chairman or Vice-Chairman, as the case may be:
Provided that every such person shall continue to carry on the
duties of his office until the Chairman or the Vice-Chairman, as the case may
be, of each State Bar Council, elected after the commencement of the Advocates
(Amendment) Act, 1977 (38 of 1977), assumes charges of the office.
(4) An advocate shall be disqualified from voting at an election
under sub-section (2) or for being chosen as, and for being, a member of a
State Bar Council, unless he possesses such qualifications or satisfies such
conditions as may be prescribed in this behalf by the Bar Council of India, and
subject to any such rules that may be made, an electoral roll shall be prepared
and revised from time to time by each State Bar Council.
(5) Nothing in the proviso to sub-section (2) shall affect the term
of office of any member elected before the commencement of the Advocates
(Amendment) Act, 1964 (21 of 1964), but every election after such commencement
shall be held in accordance with the provisions of the rules made by the Bar
Council of India to give effect to the said proviso.
(6) Nothing in clause (b) of sub-section (2) shall affect the
representation of elected members in any State Bar Council as constituted
immediately before the commencement of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1973 (60
of 1973), until that State Bar Council is reconstituted in accordance with the
provisions of this Act.
So
according to Section 3 following are the State Bar councils constituted in
India and whose members are as follows:
|
Sr.
No. |
Name
of State Bar Council |
Jurisdiction |
Members
of the Bar Council |
|
1. |
State
Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh |
State
of Andhra Pradesh |
Advocate
General of the State of Andhra Pradesh, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
2. |
Bar
Council of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipura, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal
Pradesh & Sikkim |
States
of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipura, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh
& Sikkim |
Advocate
Generals of States of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipura, Tripura, Mizoram,
Arunachal Pradesh & Sikkim ex-offcio Elected
members: 18 |
|
3. |
Bar
Council of Bihar |
State
of Bihar |
Advocate
General of the State of Bihar, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
4. |
Bar
Council of Chhattisgarh |
State
of Chhattisgarh |
Advocate
General of the State of Chhattisgarh, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
5. |
Bar
Council Of Delhi |
Union
Territory of Delhi |
Additional
Solicitor-General of India, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
6. |
Bar
Council of Gujarat |
State
of Gujarat |
Advocate
General of the State of Gujarat, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
7. |
Bar
Council Of Himachal Pradesh |
State
of Himachal Pradesh |
Advocate
General of the State of Himachal Pradesh, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
8. |
Jharkhand
State Bar Council |
State
of Jharkhand |
Advocate
General of the State of Jharkhand, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
9. |
Bar
Council of Karnataka |
State
of Karnataka |
Advocate
General of the State of Karnataka, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
10. |
Bar
Council Of Kerala |
State
of Kerala, Union Territory of Lakshadweep |
Advocate
General of the State of Kerala, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
11. |
Bar
Council Of Madhya Pradesh |
State
of Madhya Pradesh |
Advocate
General of the State of Madhya Pradesh, ex-offcio Elected
members: 26 |
|
12. |
Bar
Council Of Maharashtra & Goa |
States
of Maharashtra & Goa, Union territories of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman
& Diu |
Advocate
General of the States of Maharashtra & Goa, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
13. |
Odisha
State Bar Council |
State
of Odisha |
Advocate
General of the State of Odisha, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
14. |
Bar
Council of Punjab & Haryana |
States
of Punjab & Haryana, Union Territory of Chandigarh |
Advocate
General of the States of Punjab & Haryana, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
15. |
Bar
Council of Rajasthan |
State
of Rajasthan |
Advocate
General of the State of Rajasthan, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
16. |
Bar
Council of Tamil Nadu |
State
of Tamil Nadu and the Union territory of Pondicherry |
Advocate
General of the State of Tamil Nadu, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
17. |
Bar
Council of Uttar Pradesh |
State
of Uttar Pradesh |
Advocate
General of the State of Uttar Pradesh, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
18. |
Bar
Council Of Uttarakhand |
State
of Uttarakhand |
Advocate
General of the State of Uttarakhand, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
19. |
Bar
Council Of West Bengal |
State
of West Bengal and Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
Advocate
General of the State of West Bengal, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
20. |
Bar
Council of Jammu and Kashmir; and Ladakh |
Union
territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union territory of Ladakh |
Advocate-General
of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
|
21. |
Bar
Council of Telangana |
State
of Telangana |
Advocate-General
of Union territory of Telangana, ex-offcio Elected
members: 25 |
So these are the various State Bar Councils established in various states of India.
Note:
Part in Red words is part of Bare Act –
Advocates’ Act, 1961.
If you want to know about specific provisions of the Advocates’ Act, 1961 and the Bar Council Rules then let me know in the comments below.
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