Advocates Act, 1961 - Chapter III: Admission and Enrolment of Advocates
Section 20 of the Advocates Act, 1961: Special Provision for Enrolment of Certain Supreme Court Advocates
Section 20 of the Advocates Act, 1961 is a historical transitional provision. It dealt with advocates who were entitled as of right to practise in the Supreme Court immediately before the appointed day but whose names were not entered on any State roll.
In brief: Section 20 enabled this limited pre-existing category of Supreme Court advocates to be entered on a State Bar Council roll without payment of an enrolment fee. It is not a general present-day route for enrolment as an advocate.
Historical scope: The Bar Council of India Rules identify the relevant appointed day for this provision as 1 December 1961. The provision therefore concerns advocates who already enjoyed the specified Supreme Court right immediately before that date.
Text of Section 20
Section 20 - Special provision for enrolment of certain Supreme Court advocates
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in Chapter III, every advocate who was entitled as of right to practise in the Supreme Court immediately before the appointed day and whose name was not entered in any State roll could, within the prescribed time, express an intention in the prescribed form to the Bar Council of India for entry of the advocate's name in the roll of a State Bar Council.
On receipt of such intimation, the Bar Council of India was required to direct that the advocate's name, without payment of any fee, be entered in the roll of that State Bar Council, and the State Bar Council concerned was required to comply with the direction.
(2) Any entry made in a State roll in compliance with a direction under sub-section (1) was to be made according to the order of seniority determined under Section 17(3).
(3) If an advocate covered by sub-section (1) omitted or failed to express the required intention within the prescribed time, the advocate's name was to be entered in the roll of the State Bar Council of Delhi.
Meaning and explanation of Section 20
1. A transitional provision, not a modern enrolment route
Section 20 was designed to integrate a pre-Advocates Act category of Supreme Court advocates into the new unified system of State Bar Council rolls created by the Advocates Act, 1961.
2. Who was covered?
The provision applied only to an advocate who was entitled as of right to practise in the Supreme Court immediately before the appointed day and whose name was not already entered in any State roll.
3. Application was to the Bar Council of India
The advocate had to express an intention, within the prescribed period and in the prescribed form, to the Bar Council of India identifying the State roll on which the advocate wished to be entered.
4. No enrolment fee under this transitional route
The statutory text required entry on the selected State roll without payment of any fee under this special mechanism.
5. Seniority was preserved under Section 17
Section 20(2) linked the entry to the seniority rules in Section 17(3).
6. Default entry on the Delhi State roll
If the advocate failed to express an intention within the prescribed period, Section 20(3) directed that the name be entered on the roll of the State Bar Council of Delhi.
Section 20 at a glance
| Issue | Position under Section 20 |
|---|---|
| Eligible category | Certain advocates entitled as of right to practise in the Supreme Court immediately before the appointed day. |
| Existing State-roll entry | The advocate had to be outside any State roll. |
| Authority | Bar Council of India. |
| Fee | No fee under the special statutory mechanism. |
| Seniority | Determined in accordance with Section 17(3). |
| No timely choice | Entry on the Delhi State Bar Council roll. |
Prescribed historical intimation form
The Bar Council of India Rules contain an "Intimation under Section 20 of the Advocates Act, 1961" for the category covered by this section. The form itself refers to entitlement as of right to practise in the Supreme Court immediately before 1 December 1961.
Related provisions
- Section 16 distinguishes Senior Advocates and other advocates.
- Section 17 governs State rolls and seniority.
- Section 18 provides the present statutory mechanism for transfer from one State roll to another.
- Section 19 requires State Bar Councils to send rolls and later alterations to the Bar Council of India.
- Section 21 deals with disputes regarding seniority.
- Section 24 contains the general present-day qualifications for admission on a State roll.
- Section 28 deals with State Bar Council rules concerning admission and enrolment.
Official legal sources
The current text of the Advocates Act, 1961 may be checked on India Code: India Code - Advocates Act, 1961.
The historical prescribed intimation under Section 20 appears in the Bar Council of India Rules: India Code - Bar Council of India Rules.
Legal note: Section 20 remains part of the Advocates Act but is historical and transitional in operation. Present-day admission to a State roll is ordinarily governed by Sections 24 to 28 and the current enrolment rules, not by Section 20.