Section 9A of the Advocates Act, 1961: Constitution of Legal Aid Committees
Section 9A of the Advocates Act, 1961 authorises a Bar Council to constitute one or more legal aid committees. It specifies the permissible size of each committee and leaves the qualifications, method of selection and term of office of members to be prescribed under the applicable rules.
What does Section 9A provide?
Section 9A - Constitution of legal aid committees:
Subsection (1): A Bar Council may constitute one or more legal aid committees. Each committee must consist of such number of members as may be prescribed, subject to a statutory minimum of five members and maximum of nine members.
Subsection (2): The qualifications, method of selection and term of office of the members of a legal aid committee are to be such as may be prescribed.
Meaning of Section 9A(1)
Section 9A(1) is an enabling provision. It permits a Bar Council to create one or more legal aid committees rather than requiring every Bar Council to maintain only a single committee.
The Act itself fixes the outer limits of committee strength. A legal aid committee cannot have fewer than five members or more than nine members. The exact number within that range is determined in the prescribed manner.
Meaning of Section 9A(2)
Section 9A(2) does not itself prescribe the detailed eligibility criteria, selection process or tenure of committee members. Instead, it provides that these matters shall be "as may be prescribed".
In the context of the Advocates Act, the expression "prescribed" refers to requirements laid down by rules made under the Act. Accordingly, the following matters are governed by the applicable prescribed rules:
- qualifications required for membership of a legal aid committee;
- the method by which members are selected; and
- the term of office of the members.
What is a Bar Council for Section 9A purposes?
Section 9A uses the expression "A Bar Council". Under the Advocates Act, the statutory scheme includes State Bar Councils constituted under Section 3 and the Bar Council of India constituted under Section 4.
The functions of State Bar Councils are set out in Section 6, while the functions of the Bar Council of India are set out in Section 7.
Legal aid under the Advocates Act
Section 9A forms part of the broader legal aid framework under the Advocates Act. Section 6 authorises State Bar Councils to organise legal aid to the poor in the prescribed manner, while Section 7 contains corresponding functions of the Bar Council of India and enables the constitution of funds for legal aid or advice.
Section 9A complements those provisions by providing a statutory mechanism for the constitution of dedicated legal aid committees.
Difference between Section 9 and Section 9A
- Section 9: deals with disciplinary committees of Bar Councils.
- Section 9A: deals specifically with legal aid committees.
These committees perform different statutory functions. Disciplinary committees deal with matters arising under the disciplinary framework of the Advocates Act, while legal aid committees are constituted for legal aid-related purposes.
Legislative history
Section 9A was inserted by section 9 of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 1973 (Act 60 of 1973) and came into force on 31 January 1974.
Why Section 9A is important
Section 9A provides an institutional structure through which Bar Councils may organise legal aid work. By fixing a statutory range for committee membership while allowing detailed qualifications, selection procedures and tenure to be prescribed by rules, the provision combines statutory control with administrative flexibility.
Related provisions
For the surrounding statutory framework, see Section 6 - Functions of State Bar Councils, Section 7 - Functions of Bar Council of India, Section 9 - Disciplinary Committees, Section 10 - Other Committees and Section 15 - Power to make rules.
Official reference
The current text of the Advocates Act, 1961 can be verified from the Government of India's official India Code page for the Advocates Act, 1961.
The consolidated statutory PDF is also available through the official India Code publication of the Advocates Act, 1961.