13. Constitution and incorporation of Bar Councils.—(1) For every High Court a Bar Council shall
be constituted in the manner hereinafter provided.
(2) Every Bar Council so constituted shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a
common seal with power to acquire and hold property, both movable and immovable, and to contract, and
shall by the name of the Bar Council of the High Court for which it has been constituted sue and be sued.
14.Composition of Bar Councils.—(1) Every Bar Council shall consist of fifteen members, of
whom—
(a) one shall be the Advocate-General;
(b) four shall be persons nominated by the High Court, of whom not more than two may be
Judges of that Court; and
(c) ten shall be elected by the advocates of the High Court from amongst their number.
(2) of the elected members of every Bar Council not less than five shall be persons who have for not
less than ten years been entitled as of right to practise in the High Court for which the Bar Council has
been constituted.
2
[Explanation.—For the purpose of election to the Bar Council for the High Court of Gujarat, the
period of ten years aforesaid shall be computed after taking into account the period for which the person
concerned was entitled as of right to practise in the High Court of Bombay or of Saurashtra or in the
Judicial Commissioner’s Court of Kutch before the 1st day of May, 1960.]
(3) of the elected members of the Bar Councils to be constituted for the High Courts of Judicature at
Fort William in Bengal and at Bombay such proportion as the High Court may direct in each case shall be
persons who have, for such minimum period as the High Court may determine, been entitled to practise in
the High Court in the exercise of its original jurisdiction, and such number as may be fixed by the High
Court out of the said proportion shall be barristers of England or Ireland or members of the Faculty of
Advocates in Scotland.
(4) There shall be a Chairman and Vice-Chairman of each Bar Council elected by the Council in such
manner as may be prescribed:
3
[Provided that the Advocates-General of West Bengal, Madras Maharashtra and Gujarat shall be
Chairmen ex officio, respectively, of the Bar Councils constituted for the High Courts of those States.]
STATE AMENDMENT
Tamil Nadu
In the Indian Bar Council Act, 1926 (Central Act XXXVIII of 1926), after section 4, the following
section shall be inserted, namely:--
Insertion of new section 4-A in Central Act XXXVIII of 1926.
"4-A. Qualifications for election.--Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in any rule
made thereunder, no advocate entered in the roll of advocates of the Madras High Court who, on or
after the 5th July 1954, is not ordinarily raiding and practising in Courts in the State of Madras shall
be entitled to vote at any election for, or to be elected to, the Madras Bar Council under clause (c) of
sub-section (1) of section 4."
[Vide Tamil Nadu Act XXXV of 1954, s. 2]
1. The Provisions of sections 3 to 7, sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) of section 9, section 15 and section 20, shall stand repealed in
the territory for which the State Bar Council is constituted vide 25 of 1961, s. 50 (1).
2. Ins. by At 11 of 1960, s. 72.
3. Subs. by s. 72, ibid., for the proviso.
4
15. Special provisions regarding constitution of first Bar Councils.—(1) Notwithstanding anything
contained in clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 4, the elected members of the first Bar Council
constituted under this Act for any High Court shall be elected by and from amongst the advocates, vakils
and pleaders who are on the date of the election entitled as of right to practice in the High Court.
(2) The terms of office of the nominated and elected members of any such first Bar Council shall be
three years from the date of the first meeting of the Council.
2
[ 15A. Ad hoc Bar Council for Gujarat High Court.—Notwithstanding anything contained in this
Act, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat shall nominate the members of the first Bar Council
under this Act for the High Court of Gujarat and the members so nominated shall remain in office for a
period of twelve months.
16. Power to make rules regarding constitution and procedure of Bar Councils.—(1) Rules,
consistent with this Act, may be made to provide for the following matters, namely:—
(a) the manner in which elections of members of the Bar Council shall be held; the method of
determining, in accordance with the provisions of sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 4, the candidates
who shall be declared to have been elected; the manner in which the result of elections shall be
published; and the manner in which and the authority by which doubts and disputes as to the validity
of an election shall be finally decided;
(b) the terms of office of nominated and elected members of the Council;
(c) the filling of casual vacancies in the Council;
(d) the convening of meetings of the Council, and the quorum necessary for the transaction of
business thereat;
(e) the manner of election and the respective terms of office of the Chairman, in cases where the
Chairman is to be elected, and of the Vice-Chairman; and
(f) any matter incidental or ancillary to any of the foregoing matters.
(2) The first rules under this section shall be made by the High Court, but the Bar Council may
thereafter, with the previous sanction of the High Court, add to, amend or rescind any rules so made.
(3) No election of a member or members to the Council shall be called in question on the ground that
due notice thereof has not been given to any person entitled to vote thereat, if notice of the date fixed for
the election has, not less than thirty days before that date, been published in the Official Gazette of the
State, or of each State, as the case may be, in which the High Court exercises jurisdiction.
(4) Rules made under clause (b) of sub-section (1) may provide for the retirement of members from
office by rotation and for the manner in which the order of such retirement shall be determined.
7. Power of Bar Council to make bye-laws.—The Bar Council may make bye-laws consistent with
this Act and any rules made there under to provide for any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the appointment of such ministerial officers and servants as the Bar Council may deem
necessary, and the pay and allowances and other conditions of service of such officers and servants;
and
(b) the appointment and constitution of Committees of the Council, the procedure of such
Committees, and the determination of the powers or duties of the Council which may be delegated to
such Committees.