Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926
No: 38 Dated: Sep, 09 1926
THE INDIAN BAR COUNCILS ACT, 1926
ACT NO. 38 OF 1926
An Act to provide for the constitution of Bar Councils and for other purposes.
WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the constitution and incorporation of Bar Councils for certain Courts to confer powers and impose duties on such Bar Councils, and to consolidate and amend the law relating to legal practioners entitled to practice in such Courts.
It is hereby enacted as follows:—
Preliminary
1. Short title, extent and application. - (1) This Act may be called the Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926.
(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir, and shall apply to the High Court of every State other than the State of Jammu and Kashmir and also to such Judicial Commissioners Courts in Union territories as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be High Courts to which this Act applies.
2. Interpretation. - (1) In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context, -
(a) "advocate" means an advocate entered in the roll of advocates of a High Court under the provisions of this Act;
(b) "Advocate-General" includes, where there is no Advocate-General, the Government Advocate and, where there is no Advocate-General or Government Advocate, such officer as the State Government may declare to be the Advocate-General for the purposes of this Act;
(c) "High Court" means a High Court to which this Act applies; and
(d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act.
(2) In this Act "the State Government" means, in relation to any High Court, the State Government of the State in which the High Court has its principal seat.
Constitution of Bar Councils
3. Constitution and incorporation of Bar Councils. - (1) For every High Court a Bar Council shall be constituted in the manner hereinafter provided.
(2) Every Bar Council so constituted shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire and hold property, both movable and immovable, and to contract, and shall by the name of the Bar Council of the High Court for which it has been constituted sue and be sued.
4. Composition of Bar Councils. - (1) Every Bar Council shall consist of fifteen members, of whom -
(a) one shall be the Advocate-General;
(b) four shall be persons nominated by the High Court, of whom not more than two may be Judges of that Court; and
(c) ten shall be elected by the advocates of the High Court from amongst their number.
(2) of the elected members of every Bar Council not less than five shall be persons who have for not less than ten years been entitled as of right to practise in the High Court for which the Bar Council has been constituted.
Explanation. - For the purpose of election to the Bar Council for the High Court of Gujarat, the period of ten years aforesaid shall be computed after taking into account the period for which the person concerned was entitled as of right to practise in the High Court of Bombay or of Saurashtra or in the Judicial Commissioner's Court of Kutch before the 1st day of May, 1960.
(3) of the elected members of the Bar Councils to be constituted for the High Courts of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal and at Bombay such proportion as the High Court may direct in each case shall be persons who have, for such minimum period as the High Court may determine, been entitled to practise in the High Court in the exercise of its original jurisdiction, and such number as may be fixed by the High Court out of the said proportion shall be barristers of England or Ireland or members of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland.
(4) There shall be a Chairman and Vice-Chairman of each Bar Council elected by the Council in such manner as may be prescribed:
Provided that the Advocates-General of West Bengal, Madras Maharashtra and Gujarat shall be Chairmen ex officio, respectively, of the Bar Councils constituted for the High Courts of those States.
5. Special provisions regarding constitution of first Bar Councils. - (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 4, the elected members of the first Bar Council constituted under this Act for any High Court shall be elected by and from amongst the advocates, vakils and pleaders who are on the date of the election entitled as of right to practice in the High Court.
(2) The terms of office of the nominated and elected members of any such first Bar Council shall be three years from the date of the first meeting of the Council.
5A. Ad hoc Bar Council for Gujarat High Court. - Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat shall nominate the members of the first Bar Council under this Act for the High Court of Gujarat and the members so nominated shall remain in office for a period of twelve months.