The Advocates Act, 1961

(1) This Act may be called the Advocates Act, 1961. 1[(2) It extends to the whole of India.] (3) It 2[shall, in relation to the territories other than those referred to in sub-section (4), come into force]on such date3 as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, and differentdates3 may be appointed for different provisions of this Act. 4[(4) This Act shall, in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir*5 and the Union territory of Goa,Daman and Diu, come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the OfficialGazette, appoint in this behalf, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act.]

1[(1)] In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- (a) "advocate" means an advocate entered in any roll under the provisions of this Act; (b) "appointed day", in relation to any provision of this Act, means the day on which that provision comes intoforce; 2* * * * * * (d) "Bar Council" means a Bar Council constituted under this Act; (e) "Bar Council of India" means the Bar Council constituted under section 4 for the territories to which this Actextends; 3* * * * * * (g) "High Court", except in sub-section (1) 4[and sub-section (1A)] of section 34 and in sections 42 and 43, doesnot include a court of the Judicial Commissioner, and, in relation to a State Bar Council, means,-- (i) in the case of a Bar Council constituted for a State or for a State and one or more Union territories, theHigh Court for the State; (ii) in the case of the Bar Council constituted for Delhi, 5[the High Court of Delhi]; (h) "law graduate" means a person who has obtained a bachelor's degree in law from any University establishedby law in India; (i) "legal practitioner" means an advocate 6[or vakil] of any High Court, a pleader, mukhtar or revenue agent; (j) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (k) "roll" means a roll of advocates prepared and maintained under this Act; (l) "State" does not include a Union territory; (m) "State Bar Council" means a Bar Council constituted under section 3; (n) "State roll" means a roll of advocates prepared and maintained by a State Bar Council under section 17. 4[(2) Any reference in this Act to a law which is not in force 7*** in the Union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu,shall, in relation to 8*** that territory, be construed as a reference to the corresponding law, if any, in force in that Stateor that territory, as the case may be.]

(1) There shall be a Bar Council-- (a) for each of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, 1[Jammu and Kashmir], 2[Jharkhand], 3[MadhyaPradesh and Chhattisgarh], 4***, 5***, 6[Karnataka], Orissa, 7[Rajasthan, Telangana 8[Uttar Pradesh], 9[Uttaranchal, Meghalya,Manipur and Tripura]] to be known as the Bar Council of that State; 10[(b) for the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram and Nagaland to be known as the BarCouncil of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram and Nagaland;] (c) for the State of Kerala and the Union territory of 11[Lakshadweep] to be known as the Bar Councilof Kerala; 12(cc) for the 13[State of Tamil Nadu] and the Union territory of Pondicherry to be known as the BarCouncil of Madras;] 14[(ccc) for the States of Maharashtra and Goa and the Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli andand Daman and Diu, to be known as the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa;] 15[(d) for the States of Punjab and Haryana and the Union territory of Chandigarh, to be known as theBar 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 16[Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands], to beknown 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; 17[18[in the case of the State Bar Councils of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland, theAdvocate-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 ofPunjab and Haryana, ex officio;] and in the case of any other State Bar Council, the Advocate-General ofthe State, ex officio; 19[(b) in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate not exceeding five thousand, fifteenmembers, in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate exceeding five thousand but not exceedingten thousand, twenty members, and in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate exceeding tenthousand, twenty-five members, elected in accordance with the system of proportional representation bymeans of the single transferable vote from amongst advocates on the electoral roll of the State BarCouncil:] 20[Provided that as nearly as possible one-half of such elected members shall, subject to any rules thatmay be made in this behalf by the Bar Council of India, be persons who have for at least ten years beenadvocates 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 IndianBar Councils Act, 1926 (38 of 1926).] 21[(3) There shall be a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman of each State Bar Council elected by the Council insuch manner as may be prescribed. (3A) Every person holding office as Chairman or as Vice-Chairman of any State Bar Council immediatelybefore the commencement of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1977 (38 of 1977), shall, on suchcommencement, 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 orthe Vice-Chairman, as the case may be, of each State Bar Council, elected after the commencement of theAdvocates (Amendment) Act, 1977 (38 of 1977), assumes charges of the office.] 21[(4) An advocate shall be disqualified from voting at an election under sub-section (2) or for beingchosen as, and for being, a member of a State Bar Council, unless he possesses such qualifications or satisfiessuch conditions as may be prescribed in this behalf by the Bar Council of India, and subject to any such rulesthat 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 beforethe commencement of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1964 (21 of 1964), but every election after suchcommencement shall be held in accordance with the provisions of the rules made by the Bar Council of Indiato give effect to the said proviso.] 22[(6) Nothing in clause (b) of sub-section (2) shall affect the representation of elected members in anyState 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.]

(1) There shall be a Bar Council for the territories to which this Act extends tobe known as the Bar Council of India which shall consist of the following members, namely:-- (a) the Attorney-General of India, ex officio; (b) the Solicitor-General of India, ex officio; 1* * * * * (c) one member elected by each State Bar Council from amongst its members. 2[(1A) No person shall be eligible for being elected as a member of the Bar Council of India unless hepossesses the qualifications specified in the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 3.] 3[(2) There shall be a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman of the Bar Council of India elected by the Councilin such manner as may be prescribed. (2A) A person holding office as Chairman or as Vice-Chairman of the Bar Council of India immediatelybefore the commencement of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1977 (38 of 1977), shall, on suchcommencement, cease to hold office as Chairman or Vice-Chairman, as the case may be: Provided that such person shall continue to carry on the duties of his office until the Chairman or theVice-Chairman, as the case may be, of the Council, elected after the commencement of the Advocates(Amendment) Act, 1977 (38 of 1977), assumes charge of the office.] 4[(3) The term of office of a member of the Bar Council of India elected by the State Bar Council shall,-- (i) in the case of a member of a State Bar Council who holds office ex officio, be two years from thedate of his election 5[or till he ceases to be a member of the State Bar Council, whichever is earlier]; and (ii) in any other case, be for the period for which he holds office as a member of the State BarCouncil: Provided that every such member shall continue to hold office as a member of the Bar Council of Indiauntil his successor is elected.]

Every Bar Council shall be a body corporate having perpetualsuccession and a common seal, with power to acquire and hold property, both movable and immovable, and tocontract, and may be the name by which it is known sue and be sued.