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Section 3 of the Advocates Act, 1961 - State Bar Councils

Section 3 of the Advocates Act, 1961 establishes the State Bar Councils, identifies their territorial coverage, and sets out their membership, elected representation, Chairman and Vice-Chairman, electoral qualifications and transitional provisions.

Section 3 in brief: State Bar Councils are statutory bodies constituted for specified States and Union territories. Their membership includes designated ex officio law officers and elected advocates, with the number of elected members depending on the size of the electorate.

Section 3(1) - State Bar Councils and Territorial Coverage

(1) There shall be a Bar Council:

  1. for each of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Orissa, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura, to be known as the Bar Council of that State;
  2. for the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram and Nagaland, to be known as the Bar Council of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram and Nagaland;
  3. for the State of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep, to be known as the Bar Council of Kerala;
  4. for the State of Tamil Nadu and the Union territory of Pondicherry, to be known as the Bar Council of Madras;
  5. for the States of Maharashtra and Goa and the Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, to be known as the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa;
  6. for the States of Punjab and Haryana and the Union territory of Chandigarh, to be known as the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana;
  7. for the State of Himachal Pradesh, to be known as the Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh;
  8. for the State of West Bengal and the Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, to be known as the Bar Council of West Bengal;
  9. for the Union territory of Delhi, to be known as the Bar Council of Delhi; and
  10. for the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union territory of Ladakh, to be known as the Bar Council of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Current statutory position: The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 removed the former reference to the State of Jammu and Kashmir from Section 3(1)(a) and created a separate Bar Council provision for the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Section 3(2) - Composition of a State Bar Council

(2) A State Bar Council consists of ex officio members and elected members.

(a) Ex officio members: In Delhi, the Additional Solicitor-General of India is the ex officio member. In the joint Bar Councils specifically mentioned in the provision, the Advocate-General of each relevant State is an ex officio member. In other State Bar Councils, the Advocate-General of the State is the ex officio member.

(b) Elected members: The number of elected members depends on the size of the electorate:

  • 15 members where the electorate does not exceed 5,000;
  • 20 members where the electorate exceeds 5,000 but does not exceed 10,000; and
  • 25 members where the electorate exceeds 10,000.

The elected members are chosen from advocates on the electoral roll by proportional representation through the single transferable vote.

Experience requirement: As nearly as possible, one-half of the elected members must, subject to Bar Council of India rules, be advocates who have been on a State roll for at least ten years. Earlier qualifying enrolment under the Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926 is counted for this purpose.

Definitions and Explanation of Important Expressions

State Bar Council

A State Bar Council is a statutory Bar Council constituted under Section 3. The definition in Section 2(1)(m) points directly to Section 3.

Ex officio member

An ex officio member holds membership by virtue of occupying a specified public office rather than through election to the Bar Council.

Electorate

For Section 3, the size of the electorate determines whether a State Bar Council has 15, 20 or 25 elected members.

Electoral roll

The electoral roll is the list of advocates entitled, subject to the Act and Bar Council of India rules, to participate in State Bar Council elections.

Proportional representation

This is the electoral system prescribed by Section 3 for election of members, designed to distribute representation according to votes rather than through a simple single-seat plurality system.

Single transferable vote

Under this voting method, electors rank candidates by preference and votes may transfer according to the applicable counting rules.

State roll

A State roll is the roll of advocates prepared and maintained by a State Bar Council under Section 17, as defined in Section 2(1)(n).

Chairman and Vice-Chairman

These are the elected office-bearers of the State Bar Council under Section 3(3), chosen by the Council in the prescribed manner.

Section 3(3) - Chairman and Vice-Chairman

(3) Every State Bar Council has a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman elected by the Council in the prescribed manner.

This provision makes the leadership of a State Bar Council an internal elected office rather than an automatic consequence of holding another public office.

Section 3(3A) - Transitional Provision for 1977 Office-Bearers

(3A) This is a historical transitional provision linked to the commencement of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1977. It dealt with persons who were then holding office as Chairman or Vice-Chairman and the transition to newly elected office-bearers.

Section 3(4) - Qualifications for Voting and Membership

(4) An advocate is disqualified from voting in a State Bar Council election, or from being chosen as and remaining a member, unless the advocate possesses the qualifications or satisfies the conditions prescribed by the Bar Council of India. Each State Bar Council must prepare and revise its electoral roll subject to those rules.

Sections 3(5) and 3(6) - Transitional Election Provisions

(5) This provision protected the term of members elected before commencement of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1964, while requiring later elections to follow the rules implementing the experience-related proviso to Section 3(2).

(6) This provision preserved the representation of elected members in Bar Councils constituted immediately before commencement of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1973 until reconstitution in accordance with the amended Act.

How Section 3 Works with Other Advocates Act Provisions

Section 3 should be read with Section 2, which defines "State Bar Council" and related expressions; Section 5, which gives every Bar Council corporate status; and Section 6, which sets out the functions of State Bar Councils.

The electoral framework in Section 3 also connects with Section 8, dealing with the term of office of members, and Section 15, which authorises rules concerning Bar Council business and related matters.

Official Legal References

Note: This article explains Section 3 for general legal information. Questions concerning eligibility to vote, electoral rolls, Bar Council elections, membership or office-bearers may also require examination of the Bar Council of India Rules, State Bar Council rules, notifications and relevant judicial decisions.