2.

2 Reading Material

2.2 State Bar Council – Powers and Function

Structure of State Bar Councils

Section 3 of the Advocates Act mandates that there shall be a Bar Council for every state, and it
shall be called as Bar Council of that state.

As per Section 5 of the Act, every Bar Council shall be a body corporate with perpetual
succession and common seal. It can acquire and hold properties. It can sue or be sued.

There shall be a Chairman and Vice Chairman of each Bar Council elected by the Council. The
Advocate – General of a state shall be ex-officio member of that State Bar Council.

There shall be fifteen members in a State Bar council if the electorate doesn’t exceed five
thousand. And it becomes twenty if the electorate ranges between five thousand and ten
thousand.

There shall be twenty five members in the Council if the number exceeds ten thousand. The
members of the Council are elected through system of proportional representation by means of
the single transferable vote from amongst Advocates on the electoral roll of the State Bar
Council.

As per Section 8 of the Act, the tenure of a member shall be five years from the date of
publication of the result. But if the Council fails to conduct an election before the expiry of the
term, it may extend such tenure by a maximum of six months by recording reasons in writing.

As per Section 10B of the Act, an elected member to the council may be disqualified on the
grounds that he was absent in consecutive meetings or his name is removed from roll of
Advocates or he is disqualified under any rules prescribed by Bar Council of India.

Functions of State Bar Council

Section 6 of the Act lays down the important functions of a State Bar Council.

They are:

 To admit persons as Advocates on its roll.

 To prepare and maintain such roll.

 To entertain and determine cases of misconduct against Advocates on its roll.

 To safeguard the rights, privileges and interests of Advocates on its roll.

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  To promote and support law reform.

 To conduct seminars and organise talks on legal topics by eminent jurists and publish
journals and papers of legal interest.

 To organise legal aid to the poor.

 To manage and invest the funds of the Bar Council.

 To provide for the election of its members.

 To visit and inspect Universities in accordance with the rules for imparting legal
education.

 To promote the growth of Bar Associations for the purpose of effective implementation
of welfare schemes introduced by the Council.

 To perform any other functions as prescribed by the Act.

 The time within which and form in which an Advocate shall express his intention for the
entry of his name in the roll of State Bar Council.

 The form in which an application shall be made to the Bar Council for admission as an
Advocate on its roll.

 The conditions subject to which a person may be admitted as an Advocate on any such
roll.

 The instalments in which the enrolment fee may be paid.

The Council may constitute funds for the purpose of:

 Giving financial assistance to organise welfare schemes for the indigent, disabled or other
Advocates.

 Giving legal aid or advice in accordance with the rules.

The State Bar Council may receive gifts, donations or any grants for the purposes mentioned
above and such amount may be credited to the welfare funds constituted accordingly.

Committees

Various Committees may be constituted by the State Bar Councils for discharging certain duties.
Such as:

Disciplinary Committee

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The disciplinary committees are constituted to deal with the cases of professional misconduct of
Advocates. The Council may constitute one or more disciplinary committees. It shall consist of
three persons in out of which two persons shall be members of the Council and the remaining
one being selected from the non-member Advocates.

The senior most among the members of the Committee shall be the Chairman of the Disciplinary
Committee.

The Disciplinary Committee shall have the same power as that of a civil Court in matters relating
to the disposal of disputes relating to professional misconduct.

Legal Aid Committee

One or more legal aid committees may be constituted by the Council. It shall have minimum five
members; however it cannot exceed nine.

The Legal Aid activities of the Council are monitored, conducted by the committee. The Council
prescribes the qualifications required for the members from time to time.

Executive Committee

It shall consist of five members and they are elected by the Council amongst its members.

Enrolment Committee

There must be three members in the enrolment committee who shall be elected from the
members of the Council. A State Bar Council shall refer every application for admission as an
advocate to its enrolment committee and it shall decide on the same.

Standing Committees

 Executive committee which shall consist of nine members elected amongst the members
of the Council.

 Legal Education Committee which shall consist of ten members. Five out of ten members
shall be elected by the Council from its members and the remaining five shall be co-opted
by the council from non-member Advocates.

Every Bar Council and every committee other than Disciplinary Committee shall follow the rules
of procedure in regard to transaction of businesses at their meeting. The meeting shall be
convened at the headquarters of the Bar Council except that of Disciplinary Committee.

Power of Bar Councils to make Rules

Every State Bar Council has the power to make rules regarding the following matters:

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  The election of members of the Bar Council. This will include the manner of conducting
election, eligibility to cast postal vote, manner of publishing results etc.

 The manner of election of the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Bar Council.

 Deciding the validity of elections.

 The filling of casual vacancies in the Bar Council.

 The powers and duties of the Chairman and the Vice Chairman.

 Constitution of funds.

 Organisation of legal aid to the poor, constitution of committees and sub committees for
the purpose.

 Summoning the meeting of the Bar Council, Conduct of Business, deciding the number
of persons to constitute quorum.

 The qualifications and the conditions of service of the secretary, the accountant, and other
employees of the Bar Council.

 The maintenance of books of accounts and other books by the Bar Council.

 The appointment of auditors and the audit of the accounts of the Bar Council.

 The management and investment of the funds.

Rules made by the State Bar Councils are effective only when it is approved by the Bar Council
of India.

Maintenance of rolls

As per Section 17 of the Act, every State Bar Council shall prepare and maintain a roll of
Advocates. It shall contain the names and addresses of the Advocates.

The roll shall consist of two parts. The first part shall include the details of senior Advocates and
the second part shall include the details of other Advocates. No person shall be enrolled as an
Advocate in more than one state roll.

But a person can file an application before the Bar Council of India to transfer his name from roll
of one state to another nevertheless he will retain the same seniority. The State Bar Council may
issue a certificate of enrolment to Advocates whose name is entered in the roll.

In the case of Bar Council of Delhi & Anr. vs Surjeet Singh And Ors 1980 AIR 1612 the
Supreme Court observed that it is manifest that under the Advocate’s Act the qualifications and
conditions entitling an Advocate to vote at an election or for being chosen as a member of the

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State Bar Council has to be prescribed by the Bar Council of India. The State Bar Council has no
such power.

The power of the State Bar Council is merely to prepare and revise from time to time the
electoral roll subject to the Rules made by the Bar Council of India concerning the qualifications
and conditions aforesaid. The Rule making power of the State Bar councils does not override the
powers conferred to Bar Council of India. Even though Bar Council of India can approve the
rules made by the State Bar Councils, rules which are ultra vires to the parental Act cannot be
ratified.

In the case of Pratap Chandra Mehta vs State Bar Council of M.P.& Ors(2011) 9 SCC
573 the Supreme Court observed that “This is an Act which has been enacted with the object
of preparing a common roll of advocates, integrating the profession into one single class of
legal practitioners, providing uniformity in classification and creating autonomous Bar
Councils in each State and one for the whole of India. The functioning of the State Bar
Council is to be carried out by an elected body of members and by the office-bearers who have,
in turn, been elected by these elected members of the said Council. The legislative intent
derived with the above stated objects of the Act should be achieved and there should be
complete and free democratic functioning in the State and All India Bar Councils. The power
to frame rules has to be given a wider scope, rather than a restrictive approach so as to render
the legislative object achievable.”