How to revoke advocate and appear as party-in-person in family court.

You can even inform orally before court that you are terminating the vakalatnama given to your advocate and permit you to appear as party in person or you can file a memo stating this which will be sufficient.

Just simply send written notice to your advocate reagrding  disengagement, inform him not to appear in the court on your behalf and inform the court on the date of hearing that you have disengaged the advocate and you want to appear and plead the case pesonally,. No court fee or evocation of vakaltanam requiered. Just clear his dues and disengage him

First take NOC in writing from your advocate and then file it in court and then seek permission from court to appear in person in your case.

There is no standard procedure to revoke vakalat. You can feel free to write whatever you want as long as it conveys your intention. 

A formal application is usually not required, unless you are engaged in a serious dispute with your lawyer. 

Supreme Court requires a formal application. This is discussed in another thread. You may please check that thread. 

Many High Courts also specified procedures to appear as party in person. Each High Court has given its own format and procedure. 

Since you are not appearing in Supreme Court or High Court, any special format or procedure is not required. 

A sample memo is given below. There is no standard format. You may feel free to make your own changes as per your situation. This is just a sample. 

IN THE COURT OF THE SENIOR CIVIL JUDGE
AT CALCUTTA (change this to whatever your court may be)

O. S. NO. 123 OF 2024 (write your case number)

PPP and others                . . . Plaintiffs
Versus
DDD and others              . . . Defendants

WITHDRAWAL OF VAKALAT

I, ABCD, Plaintiff/Defendant No. 3 (write whatever is applicable to you) in the above suit, do hereby withdraw my vakalat granted to Mr. Purnendu Bhattacharya (write your advocate's name), Advocate, Esplanade, Kolkata, in the above matter and discharge him as an Advocate representing me in the above matter. He will no longer act as a Counsel for me in the above matter and he will not appear for me in the above matter or conduct or prosecute or defend the same or any proceedings that may be taken in respect of any application connected with the same or any decree or order passed therein. He is not authorized to do anything on my behalf. 

                                                                                 (your signature here)

                                                                                 ABCD

                                                                                 Plaintiff/Defendant No. 3

Print the above on one side of the page. On the other side, type and print the usual docket. 

You can also get it notarised. It depends on your judge in your court. Usually it is not necessary. 

Get the endorsement from your present lawyer, --- I consent for withdrawal of vakalat. He can also write --- No objection for withdrawal of vakalat. Let him write it at the bottom on this side of the page or somewhere in the middle on the back side (docket side). 

If your lawyer refuses to give his consent, you can still file the above without his consent. Consent of advocate is not necessary. But it is good to have it. Less headache for everybody. 

You had already sent a notice. That is an extreme scenario. Usually I do not recomment it. But you are the best person to judge your situation. You can mention that you had already sent a notice. I would prefer not to mention that. You have to think and decide. 

The following is optional. It is a memo of appearance. 

IN THE COURT OF THE SENIOR CIVIL JUDGE
AT CALCUTTA (change this to whatever your court may be)

O. S. NO. 123 OF 2024 (write your case number)

PPP and others                . . . Plaintiffs
Versus
DDD and others              . . . Defendants

MEMO OF APPEARANCE

I, ABCD, Plaintiff/Defendant No. 3 (write whatever is applicable to you) in the above suit, have already filed withdrawal of vakalat granted to Mr. Purnendu Bhattacharya (write your advocate name or you can also avoid writing your advocate name - omit granted to Mr.) in the above matter. 

Please note my appearance as Party in Person for myself, Plaintiff/Defendant No. 3 (write whatever is applicable to you) in the above matter.  

                                                                                 (your signature here)

                                                                                 ABCD

                                                                                 Plaintiff/Defendant No. 3

The memo of appearance is optional. You can file it along with withdrawal of vakalat. Or, you can file it later in a subsequent hearing, after the judge has seen your withdrawal of vakalat. 

Keep in mind that there is no standard procedure. It depends on your judge and court. He may insist on something else.Some judges don't care as long as your intention is clear to them. 

Thanks for your responses... 

I am in a challenging situation.. My advocate has failed to submit a crucial document, which has resulted in the court postponing the hearing by 5 months. Due to this delay and considering the welfare of my children, I have decided to withdraw my advocate’s Vakalatnama and request an urgent hearing.

I have a few specific questions:

Is there any possibility of filing the withdrawal of Vakalatnama and the urgent hearing request together in one application directly at the court office to avoid further delay, or is it necessary to wait for 5 months?

If filing directly at the court office is advisable, what is the procedure? Whom should I contact, considering that I am submitting the documents without my advocate’s presence?

What is the most effective method to expedite the hearing?

Some members have suggested filing a memo, while others recommend informing the court orally. While this method may generally work, in my situation, but waiting for another five months is not feasible.

Apart from the withdrawal memo, are there any specific supporting documents or affidavits I should attach to emphasize the urgency, particularly concerning the welfare of my children?

I appreciate your guidance. Thx.. 

Different Courts have different systems for filing. Usually a Court building or complex or campus contains multiple Courts such as District Judge, Senior Civil Judge, Junior Civil Judge, Family Court, Magistrate Courts and so on. Each Court has its own office or "section", which is usually situated in a separate room. In some cases, the Court and Court office or "section" may be in the same room. Recently, in some court campuses, centralized filing counters have also been started, which take care of filing in various courts within the campus. 

Assuming that your court has its own office or "section", you can file the papers in that office or section. Usually, there is a drop box. The advocates drop the papers in the drop box. Usually filing opens at 10.00 am or 10.30 am and closes by 3 pm or 3.30 pm, depending on the Court. The dropped papers are picked from the drop box by the staff from time to time within a day or after the closing time. They enter the brief details (case number) in a register. They also give a serial number or SR number. You can check later and note down the SR number of your papers filed by you. Just for your reference. 

When there are multiple memos and petitions, they are tied together using a white thread or green thread. You can observe how other advocates are doing or take help of junior advocates or an advocate clerks. Many senior advocates have advocate clerks to take care of these tasks such as filing. You can take their help. You wait near the filing section or office and observe what is happening. You will get an idea. 

When you file your papers in the filing section or office, only the clerks will see them. Your family court judge will not see them. He will see it only on the next date of hearing of your case, which you say is five months later. 

So, to expedite your hearing, you need to take the help of a lawyer in doing the paper work. You can also file withdrawal of vakalat and appearance as party in person at the same time. You can file URGENT petition after serving copies of papers to your opponents. URGENT petitions are taken up quickly, out of turn, if you show valid compelling reasons. It will be necessary to take the help of a lawyer. It is difficult to do on your own. You appear in person, but take the help of other lawyers, who are willing to help. Junior lawyers may help. 

URGENT petitions are usually filed directly with the judge during the hearing between 10.30 am to 12.00 noon, most probably at 10.30 am itself. Check the practice in your court. Talk to other lawyers or the court clerks. Before you file URGENT petition, you have to serve copies to your opponents, probably three days in advance. You need to find out in your court. They will check your papers and tell you on the same day whether there are any defects in your apapers. If there are defects, they will return your papers to you. You must be prepared to spend the whole day at the Court. You will need help of other lawyers or clerks who know these things. 

There is an advocate called Shonee Kapoor in New Delhi. You can search on Google for Shonee Kapoor. He has a website called shoneekapoor.com. He deals mainly with marriage, divorce, domestic violence and other family matters. Search on Google. I am aware that it is not a good practice to recommend other advocates here, but I do not know what exactly you are going through, so I am sharing this information. However, you have to be careful and cautious with all advocates including Shonee Kapoor. Every advocate is occupied with several cases at the same time, so he may or may not be able to do all that is necessary. I think you can at least explain your situation, consult and take his advice, depending on your situation, I don't know how complicated it is. If you can manage with lawyers in your own city, it is well and good. 

Other option is you can think of approaching the Principal District Judge of your district courts or the High Court of your state, if your matter needs it. Of course, you need to consult lawyers and explain your situation to them and take their advice.