 bill no 82 of 1976 r~iw"_ t"htm "1' the advocates (amendment) bill, 1976  bill further to amend the advocata act, 1961be it enacted by parliament in the twenty~eventh year of the republic of india as follows:-1 (1) this act may be called the advocates (amendment) act, 1976 short title and commenc'emenl (2) save as otherwise provided in this act, it shall come into force on 5 such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this act 25 of 1"1 2 in section 2 of the advocates act, 1961 as the principal act), in sub-sectiqn (1) ,-(~nafter referred to amendmentol aect1on2 10 (i) clause (c) shall be omitted; (ii) in clause (i), for the words ce, vakil or attorney", the words "or vakil" shall be substituted amendmentot aectlon s 3 in section 3 of the principal act, for sub-section (3), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:-i' "(3) there shall be a chairmad of each state bar council as fquows:-(a) in the case of the state bar council of delhi, such advocate as may be nominated by the cmtral government shall be the chairman for a period of two years; (1)) in the case of the state bar council of assam, nagaland, meghalaya, manipur and tripura, the advocate-general of each of the states of assam, manipur, meghalaya, nagaland and tripura, ex-fficio shall, by rotation in that order, be the chairman for a i>&iod of two years; s  (c) in the case of the state bar council qf punjab and haryana, the advocate-general of each of the &tates of punjab and haryana, ex-officio shall, by rotation in that order, be the chairman for a period of two years; and (d) in the case of any qther state bar council, the advocate- 10 general of the state, ex-offi<'io, shall be the chairman (3a) there shall be a vice-chairman of each state bar council who shall be the seniormost advocate amongst the members of that council" '" in section 4 of the principal act,-i, amendmentr4 section"-(i) in sub-section (1), after clause (b), the following clause shall be ~ed namely:-ii (bb) a person appointed by virtue of oftlce (whether or not under government) by the central government;"; (oii) for sub-section (2), thw following sub--sections shall be sub- 20 stituted,namely: -ii (2) the attorney-general of india ex-officio and the solicitor-general of india ex-otjicio shall be the chairman and vice-chairman respectively of the bar council of india (2a) the term of office of the member of the bar council of 25 india appointed under clause (bb) of sub-section (1) shall be two years from the date of his appointment or till he ceases to hold the office by virtuq of which he was appointed, whichever is earlier" 5 in sub-section (2) of section 15 of the principal act,-(i) clause (c) shall be omitted; amendment of aeclioo id (ii) in clause (d), the wql'ds "or to the office of the chairman or vice-chairman" shall be omitted  6 in section 24 of the principal act,-amendment of aection 2' (i) in clause (c) of sub-section (1), after the words, figures and 35 letters "the 31st day of december, 1976;", the following shall be inserted, namely:-"or has pa~ the articled clerk's examination or any other examination specified by the high court at bombay or calcutta for enrolment as an attorney of that high court;"; 40 (£i) sub-section (4) shall be omitted  1 section 31 of the principal act shall be omitted with deet·from the ist day of january 1977, omlnlori of section 31 8; in section 34 of the principal act, sub-sections (2) and (3) shall be binitted with effect from the 1st day af january, 1977 amend_ ment of section 34 $ 9 for section 46 of the principal act, the following section shall be substitusubstituted, namely:-tlonof 10 "46 every state bar council shall, for each financial year commencing on or after the 1st day af april, 1976,pay tqthe bar council of india a sum equivalent to twenty per cent  of the ~tal of the enrolment fees realised by it under this act during that year before the thirtieth day of april of the succeeding financial year" newuction for section 46 payment of part of enrolment fees to the bar council of india 10 in section 55 of the principal act, clause (b) lhall be omitted with effect from the 1st day of january, 1977 amendmentof eection 55 11 every person hojding office as--(i) chairman or vice-chairman of the bar council of india; or transitional provisions (<ii) chairman or vice-chairman of any state bar council, immediately before the coming into force of section 4 of, as the case may be, section 3 of this act shall cease to hold such office on such commencement  statement of objects and reasonsexperience gained in the practical working of the advocates act, 1961 has necessitated the following amendments:- (i) abolition of the dual systemthe indian high courts act, 1861 (commonly known as the charter act) passed by the british parliament enabled the crown to erect and establish high courts in india by letters patent and these letters patent authorised and empowered the high courts to make rules for' enrolment of advocates and attorneys (commonly known as solicitors) under these rules, a suitor on the original side of the high courts at bombay and calcutta has to approach an advocate only through the conduit of a solicitor though the rules of the high courts have minimised this compulsion recently, complaints have been voiced against the system mainly on the ground that it imposes a double burden on a poor litigant who is required to pay fees to two sets of professionals and it has been suggested that the two, classes of professionals, namely, advocates and solicitors that stand between the law and the lay should be amalgamated into a single class of advocates it is proposed to give effect to the suggestion by abolishing the dual system with a view to simplifying and streamlining court procedure, avoiding stratification of the profession and reducing the costa of litigatioill keeping the needs of the consumer of the legal process as a matter of paramount importance (ii) reducing the share of the bar council of india in the enrolment fee presently out of rs 250 paid by an applicant for enrolment as advocate, the share of the apex body, namely, the bar council of india is 41) per cent and the remainder is retained by the state bar council where he is enrolled the state bar councils have complained that they are hampered for want of funds in implementing welfare schemes like insurance and provident fund for advocates and legal aid to the poor it ls, therefore, proposed that the share of the bar council of india in the enrolment fees should be reduced to 20 per cent from the existing 40 per cent (iii) making the law o~ers of the centre and the state ex-ofrcid ch4irman of the bar council of india and state bar councils respectively under the present scheme of the advocates act, 1961, the posts of chairmen and vice-chairmen of the bar council of india as well as the state bar councils are elective ones the attorney-general of india as well as the advocates-general of states are indubitably leaders in their own rights in the profession as being well-known for their erudition, advocacy, integrity and legal acumen it is proposed to make these law officers ex-officio chairman of the bar council of india and the state bar councils respectively; solicitor-general of india, the ex-ofjicio vice-chairman of the bar council of india and the seniormost advocate from amongst the elected members of a state bar council to be the vice-chairman of that council representation is sought to be given to the central government on the bar council of india and a rotational pattern for chairmanship amongst the advocates-general is being introduced as respects bar councils constituted for territories comprising of more than ~e state hence the bill new l>elhi; h r gokhale the 12th august, 1976  annexure extracts mom the advocates act, 1961iii iii iii - - z (1) in this act, unless the context otherwise requires-deflnl tions iii iii iii iii - (c) "attorney" includes a solicitor; iii                                           '"                                                                                     '"                                                                                                                                '"                                                                                                                                                                           -       (i) "legal practitioner" means an advocate, vakil or attorney of any high court, a pleader, mukhtar or revenue agent;                      -  chapter ii- -  , j' ;i , ~ 3 (1) - -  bar councils •- - state bar councu (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                        iii                                                                iii                                                                                                        '"                                                                                                                                                iii                                                                                                                                                                                        '" 4 (1) -                                                             -                                                                                                      -                                                                                                                                              -                                                                                                                                                                                      - bar council of incua     (2) there shall be a chairman and a vice-chainnan of the bar council of india elected by the council in such manner as may be prescribed 15 (1) -                        -                                       -                                                     -                                                                    - power to make \ rule  (2) in particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for---:   '" iii - (c) the manner of election of the chairman and the vice-chairman of the bar council; (d) the nuumer in which and the authority by which doubts and disputes as to the validity of! an election to the bar council or to the office of the ch~an or vice-chairman shall be finally decided; iii iii '" iii '" z4 (1) subject to the provisions of this act, and the rules made thereunder, a person shall be qualified to be admitted as an advocate on a state roll, if he fulfils the following conditions, namely:-'" - - - (c) he has obtained a degree in law-persons who may be admitted as advocates ona state roll (i) before the 12th day of march, 1967, from any university in the territory of india; or     (ii) before the 15th day of august, 1947, from any university in any area which was comprised before that date within india 88 defined by the government of india act, 1935; or (iii) after the 12th day of march, 1967, save as provided in 8ub-clause (iiia), after undergoing a three-year course 01 study in law from any university in india which is recognised for the purposes of this act by the bar council 'of india; or (iiia) after undergoing a course of study in law, the duration of which is not less than two, academic years commencing from the academic year 1967-68 or any earlier academjc year from any uiliiversity in india which is recognised for the purposes of this act by the bar council of india; or (iv) in any other case, from any university outside the territory of iftdia, if the degree is recognised for the purposes of this act by the bar council of india; or he is a barrister and is called to the bar on or before the 31st day of december, 1976; or has obtained such other foreign qualification in law as is recognised by the bar council of india for the purpose of admission as an advocate under this act;      (4) notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), a person who has been an attorney of any high court may be admitted as an advocate on a state roll if he makes an application for such enrolment in accordance with the provisions of this act and fulfils the conditions specified in clauses (a), (b), (e) and (f) of sub-section (1), but the right of such - penon to plead orto act onjthe wiginal side of the high court at calcutta or the high court at bombay shall 'be subject to any rules that may be made in that behalf by that high court      ~f pro- - -viaion for - home, 31 notwithstanding anything contained in sections 29 and '30, the high -court 1it calcutta or the high court at bo,mbay may provide for the admdssion of proper persons to be attorneys and shall have power to remove or to suspend from practice on reaso,nable cause, any such attorney        ~1) -              -                       -                               -                                        - power olhi,h c0urt8 to make     (2) without prejudice to the provisions contained in sub-section (1), the high court at calcutta and the high court at bombay may make rules-                                                                                                , rul~                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               &                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      -             '(i) providing for the qualificati~ and admission of proper persons to be attorneys;        (ii) declaring what shall be deemed to be the functions, powers and  duties of such attorneys and the procedure to be followed in remov- ing etr suspending any such atto,mey from practice;       (iii) determining the persons who shall be entitl~ respectively to plead and to act in the high court in the exercise of its original jurijro cuction (8) until rules are made under this section, any rules made by a high court under its letters patent or any other laiw relating to any of the matters specified in this secti~ which were in force immediately before the appointed day, shall continue in force so far as consistent with this act, and shall be deemed to be rules made under this section  - - - - - 46 every state bar council shall, before the thirtieth day of april in each financial year, pay to the bar council of india a sum equivalent to forty per cent of the ~tal of the enrolment fees realised by it under this act during the financial year immediately preceding that year - - - - - payment ot part of enrolment fees to the bar councll of india 55 notwithstanding anything contained in this act,-- '" '" '" - l8 of 1879 rights of certain exiatin, legal practitioners notaftecteel (b) every attorney practising as such immediately before the said date by virtue of the provisions of the legal practitioners act, 187~, or any other law who does not elect to be, or is not qualified to be, enrolled as an advocate under this act; '" - - - - a bill !further to amend the advocates act, 1961 (shri h r gokhgle, ministet 01 lew junice om compcmr afqir) , 