UPSC Prelims 2022 Q12: Advocates Act and Bar Councils — Explained

With reference to India, consider the following statements:

1. Government law officers and legal firms are recognised as advocates, but corporate lawyers and patent attorneys are excluded from recognition as advocates.

2. Bar Councils have the power to lay down the rules relating to legal education and recognition of law colleges.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (b) 2 only

Statement-wise explanation

  • 1: incorrect — Under Section 2(1)(a) of the Advocates Act, 1961, an "advocate" is a person whose name is entered in a roll kept under the Act. Only individuals enrol with a State Bar Council, so a legal firm cannot itself be an advocate. The Act also does not exclude corporate lawyers or patent attorneys as a class. Anyone with a recognised law degree who meets the Section 24 conditions can enrol. The Law Commission's 266th Report proposed adding advocates practising with law firms to the definition, which shows that the current Act does not cover them.
  • 2: correct — Section 7(1)(h) of the Advocates Act makes it a function of the Bar Council of India to promote legal education and lay down its standards, in consultation with universities and the State Bar Councils. Section 7(1)(i) lets it recognise universities whose law degree qualifies a person for enrolment, and to inspect them. The BCI uses its rule-making power to frame the Legal Education Rules, 2008, which govern the approval of law colleges.

How to eliminate

Statement 1 makes a sweeping, two-sided claim. It says certain groups are "recognised" and others are "excluded". The Advocates Act does not classify lawyers by employer or field. It only asks whether a person is enrolled on a State roll. Once you remember that only individuals enrol, "legal firms are recognised as advocates" fails, and so does the whole statement. Statement 2 can be settled from basic knowledge. Bar Councils are known to approve law colleges and set the LLB curriculum, for example the three-year and five-year courses and the All India Bar Examination. So the question can be cracked with one fact: an advocate is an individual on the roll under Section 2(1)(a), and Section 7 gives the BCI its legal-education powers.

Know more

The Advocates Act, 1961 is the single law for the legal profession in India. It replaced the Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926 and merged the older grades of pleaders, vakils and mukhtars into one class: advocates.

Who is an advocate? A person entered on a State Bar Council's roll (Section 2(1)(a)). To enrol under Section 24, a person must be an Indian citizen, at least 21, and hold a law degree from a BCI-recognised university. Section 29 makes advocates the only class of persons entitled to practise law, and Section 30 lets them practise in all courts across India.

Employment rule. Under BCI Rule 49, an advocate cannot practise while in full-time salaried employment. This limits practice. It does not take the person off the roll as a class.

Feature State Bar Council Bar Council of India
Ex officio member Advocate General of the State Attorney General and Solicitor General of India
Elected members Advocates on the State roll One member elected by each State Bar Council
Enrolment Admits advocates and keeps the State roll Lays down conditions; keeps the common roll
Discipline Disciplinary committees hear misconduct cases Hears appeals; supervises State Bar Councils
Legal education Can inspect universities when the BCI directs Sets standards and recognises universities (Section 7(1)(h), (i))

Legal education. Using Section 7 and its rule-making powers, the BCI framed the Legal Education Rules, 2008. In BCI v. Bonnie Foi Law College (2023), the Supreme Court upheld the BCI's power to hold a pre-enrolment examination. The Law Commission's 266th Report (2017) proposed reforms, including bringing law-firm advocates and foreign lawyers into the Act.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

  • Bar Council of India: Both statements turn on what the Advocates Act 1961 lets the BCI do on enrolment and legal education.
  • Attorney General of India: Statement 1 names government law officers; the Attorney General is the senior one and sits on the BCI ex officio.

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