Can a CA register with Bar Council

kamal kalra (Service) 21 February 2009

No a CA cannot register with Bar Council unless and until he or she has not completed his or her law graduaction.

AEJAZ AHMED (Legal Consultant/Lawyer) 21 February 2009

DEAR SHWETHA,

Correctly replied by MR. KAMAL, Kindly go through the following:

THE ADVOCATES ACT, 1961

ACT NO. 25 OF 1961

Definitions

2 (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 into force;

(c) Omitted;

(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 Act extends;

(f) Omitted;

(g) "High Court", except in sub-section (1) and subsection (1A) of section 34 and in sections 42 and 43, does not 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, the High Court for the State;

(ii)   in the case of the Bar Council constituted for Delhi, the High Court of Delhi;
(h) "law graduate" means a person who has obtained a bachelor's degree in law from any University established by law in India;*1

(i)  "legal practitioner" means an advocate 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. *2

(2) Any reference in this Act to a law which is not in force in the State of Jammu and Kashmir or in the Union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu, shall, in relation to that State or that territory, be construed as a reference to the corresponding law, if any, in force in that State or that territory, as the case may be.

*1 Section 2 (h) The Bar Council of India, New Delhi. Vs. Sri Gundumeda Kasavaramayya and another : Vol(1) 1972 Journal of the Bar Council of India (JBCI) 80 Held : Power given to Bar Council of India to recognize degree in law for purposes of Act, implies power to define a standard as a condition for admission.

Definitions

2 (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 into force;

(c) Omitted;

(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 Act extends;

(f) Omitted;

(g) "High Court", except in sub-section (1) and subsection (1A) of section 34 and in sections 42 and 43, does not 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, the High Court for the State;

(ii)   in the case of the Bar Council constituted for Delhi, the High Court of Delhi;
(h) "law graduate" means a person who has obtained a bachelor's degree in law from any University established by law in India;*1

(i)  "legal practitioner" means an advocate 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. *2

(2) Any reference in this Act to a law which is not in force in the State of Jammu and Kashmir or in the Union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu, shall, in relation to that State or that territory, be construed as a reference to the corresponding law, if any, in force in that State or that territory, as the case may be.

*1 Section 2 (h) The Bar Council of India, New Delhi. Vs. Sri Gundumeda Kasavaramayya and another : Vol(1) 1972 Journal of the Bar Council of India (JBCI) 80 Held : Power given to Bar Council of India to recognize degree in law for purposes of Act, implies power to define a standard as a condition for admission.

Admission an enrolment of Advocates

16. Senior and other advocates.

(1) There shall be two classes of advocates, namely, senior advocates and other advocates.

(2) An advocate may, with his consent, be designated as senior advocate if the Supreme Court or a High Court is of opinion that by virtue of his ability, 1*[standing at the Bar or special knowledge or experience in law] he is deserving of such distinction.

(3) Senior advocates shall, in the matter of their practice, be subject to such restrictions as the Bar Council of India may, in the interests of the legal profession, prescribe.

(4) An advocate of the Supreme Court who was a senior advocate of that Court immediately before the appointed day shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be a senior advocate:

Provided that where any such senior advocate makes an application before the 31st December, 1965 to the Bar Council maintaining the roll in which his name has been entered that he does not desire to continue as a senior advocate, the Bar Council may grant the application and the roll shall be altered accordingly. *13

17. State Bar Councils to maintain roll of advocates.

(1) Every State Bar Council shall prepare and maintain a roll of advocates in which shall be entered the names and addresses of-

(a) all persons who were entered as advocates on the roll of any High Court under the Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926 (38 of 1926), immediately before the appointed day 3*[including persons, being citizens of India, who before the 15th day of August, 1947, were enrolled as advocates under the said Act in any area which before the said date was comprised within India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935, and who at any time, express an intention in the prescribed manner to practise within the jurisdiction of the Bar Council;

(b) all other persons who are admitted to be advocates on the roll of the State Bar Council under this Act on or after the appointed day.

(2) Each such roll of advocates shall consist of two parts, the first part containing the names of senior advocates and the second part, the names of other advocates.

(3) Entries in each part of the roll of advocates prepared and maintained by a State Bar Council under this section shall be in the order of seniority, and subject to any rule that may be made by the Bar Council of India in this behalf, such seniority shall be determined as follows:-

(a) the seniority of an advocate referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (1) shall be determined in accordance with his date of enrolment under the Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926 (38 of 1926);

(b) the seniority of any person who was a senior advocate of the Supreme Court immediately before the appointed day shall, for the purposes of the first part of the State roll, be determined in accordance with such principles as the Bar Council of India may specify;

(c) omitted;

(d) the seniority of any other person who, on or after the appointed day, is enrolled as a senior advocate or is admitted as an advocate shall be determined by the date of such enrolment or admission, as the case may be.

(e) notwithstanding anything contained in clause (a), the seniority of an attorney enrolled [whether before or after the commencement of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1980 (47 of 1980)] as an advocate shall be determined in accordance with the date of his enrolment as an attorney.

(4) No person shall be enrolled as an advocate on the roll of more than one State Bar Council. *14

Shweta (CA Final Student ) 21 February 2009

Thank you Sir for the reply. I want to know that can a practicing CA without surrendring his CA membership with ICAI who is also a Law graduate can enroll for membership with Bar council?