Section 3 of Advocates Act 1961 - State Bar Councils

What are the State Bar Councils? Section 3 of Advocates Act, 1961

Section 3 : State Bar Councils

(1) There shall be a Bar Council

(a) for each of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, to be known as the Bar Council of that State;

(b) for the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram Nagaland and Tripura to be known as the Bar Council of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh;

(c) for the State of Kerala and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, Minicoy and Amindivi islands to be known as the Bar Council of Kerala; (cc) for the State of Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry to be known as the Bar Council of Madras;

(ccc) 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;

(d) for the States of Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, to be known as the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana;

(dd) for the State of Himachal Pradesh, to be known as the Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh;

(e) 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; and

(f) for the Union Territory of Delhi, to be known as the Bar Council of Delhi.

(2) A State Bar Council shall consist of the following members, namely:

(a) in the case of the State Bar Council of Delhi, the Additional Solicitor-General of India ex officio; l[in the case of the State Bar Council of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura, the Advocate-General of each of the States of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, ex officio; in the case of the State Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, the Advocate-General of each of the States of Punjab and Haryana, ex officio;] and in the case of any other State Bar Council, the Advocate-General of the State, ex officio;

(b) in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate not exceeding five thousand, fifteen members, in the case of a State Bar Council, with an electorate exceeding five thousand but not exceeding ten thousand, twenty members, and in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate exceeding ten thousand, twenty-five members, elected in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote from amongst advocates on the electoral roll of the State Bar Council:

PROVIDED that as nearly as possible one-half of such elected members shall, subject to any rules that may be made in this behalf by the Bar Council of India, be persons who have for at least ten years been advocates on a State roll, and in computing the said period of ten years in relation to any such person, there shall be included any period during which the person has been an advocate enrolled under the Indian fBar Councils Act, 1926 (38 of 1926).

(3) There shall be a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman of each State Bar Council elected by the Council in such manner as may be prescribed.

(3A) Every person holding office as Chairman or as Vice-Chairman of any State Bar Council immediately before the commencement of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1977 (38 of 1977) shall, on such commencement, cease to hold office as Chairman or Vice-Chairman, as the case may be :PROVIDED that every such person shall continue to carry on the duties of his office until the Chairman or the Vice-Chairman, as the case may be, of each State Bar Council, elected after the commencement of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1977 (38 of 1977), assumes charge of the office.

(4) An advocate shall be disqualified from voting at an election under sub-section (2) or for being chosen as, and for being, a member of a State Bar Council, unless he possesses such qualifications or satisfies such conditions as may be prescribed in this behalf by the Bar Council of India, and subject to any such rules that may be made, an electoral roll shall be prepared and revised from time to time by each State ~ar Council.

(5) Nothing in the proviso to sub-section (2) shall affect the term of office of any member elected before the commencement of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1964 (21 of 1964) but every election after such commencement shall be held in accordance with the provisions of the rules made by the Bar Council of India to give effect to the said proviso.

(6) Nothing in clause (b) of sub-section (2) shall affect the representation of elected members in any Bar Council as constituted immediately before the commencement of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1973 (60 of 1973), until that State Bar Council is reconstituted in accordance with the provisions of this Act.