Report No. 266

3. Amendment of section 3.

In section 3 of the Advocates Act,-

(i) in sub-section (2), for clause (b) and the proviso relating thereto, the following shall be substituted, namely : -

"(b) in the case of a State Bar Council, with an electorate not exceeding five thousand, eleven members; in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate exceeding five thousand but not exceeding fifteen thousand, fifteen members; and in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate exceeding fifteen thousand, twenty-one members,-

(i) to be 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, after undertaking the process of verification of certificate and place of practice of advocates under this Act, and

(ii) from amongst retired judges, senior advocates or an advocate referred to in sub-clause (ii), eminent persons from fields other than law and officers of the State Government to be nominated by the High Court, and of the total number of members of the State Bar Council of a State-

(i) as nearly as may be, one half of such members shall be elected subject to any rules that may be made in this behalf by the Bar Council of India from amongst the advocates carrying on practice in law for at least ten years;

(ii) as nearly as may be the one-third of members shall be nominated by the High Court from senior advocates having experience of not less than twenty-five years of practice and in case of non-availability of senior advocate, any advocate with such experience, retired Judges of the High Court, retired district judges.

(iii) the remainder shall be nominated by the High Court from Select List of eminent persons of the ability, integrity and standing having professional experience of not less than twenty-five years in accountancy, commerce, medical science, management, public affairs or social science matters, to be provided by the State Bar Council;

Explanation.- An Advocate shall only be entitled to be a member of the State Bar Council if he has been in continuous practice for ten years and has appeared in any court, Tribunal or any other quasi-judicial body as a lead counsel in at least twelve cases a year for a continuous period of three years preceding the year of election or nomination.";

(ii) after sub-section(4), the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely:-

"(4A) An advocate who has been elected as a member of the State Bar Council consecutively for two terms shall not be eligible to contest elections under clause (b) of sub-section(2), for the ensuing next term of the State Bar Council.

(4B) A Member nominated to the State Bar Council shall not be eligible for nomination, as such, for more than two terms.".

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