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The Bar Council of Gujarat is an “Autonomous Statutory Body” constituted under Advocates Act, 1961 with wide and varied powers, functions and duties. The Bar Council of Gujarat discharges its statutory duties as per The Advocates Act, 1961, Gujarat Advocates’ Welfare Fund Act, 1991, and the Rules framed by The Bar Council of India.
The Advocates’ Act, 1961 was enacted on dated 16the August, 1961. As per Section 3 of the Advocates Act, First elected body of the Bar Council of Gujarat took over the charge on dated 06the December, 1961. Since then the State Bar Council is in charge of the Bar Council of Gujarat. In the year 1961, 1184 advocates got enrolled with the State Bar Council and gradually the number of members increased and as of now approximately 75000 advocates are enrolled on the roll of the Bar Council of Gujarat as on November’2018.
Section 6 - Functions Of State Bar Councils
Under Section 6 of the Advocates Act, 1961 the functions of the State Bar Council have been clearly mentioned which is stated as under:
1.The functions of a State Bar Council shall be
To admit persons as advocates on its roll;
To prepare and maintain such roll;
To entertain and determine cases of misconduct against advocates on its roll;
To safeguard the rights, privileges and interests of advocates on its roll;
To promote the growth of Bar Associations for the purposes of effective implementation of the welfare schemes referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (2) of this section and clause (a) of sub-section (2) of Section 7;]
To promote and support law reform;
To conduct seminars and organise talks on legal topics by–eminent jurists and publish journals and papers of legal interest;
To organise legal aid to the poor in the prescribed manner;
To manage and invest the funds of the Bar Council;
To provide for the election of its members;
To visit and inspect Universities in accordance with the directions given under clause (i) of sub-section (1) of Section 7
To perform all other functions conferred on it by or under this Act,
To do all other things necessary for discharging the aforesaid functions.
2.A State Bar Council may constitute one or more funds in the prescribed manner for the purpose of –
Giving financial assistance to organise welfare schemes for the indigent, disabled or other advocates;
Giving legal aid or advice in accordance with the rules made in this behalf.
Establishing law libraries.
3. A State Bar Council may receive any grants, donations, gifts or benefactions for all or any of the purposes specified in subsection (2) which shall be credited to the appropriate fund or funds constituted under that sub-section.
Legislative Changes
Section 6 was amended by the Advocates (Amendment) Act (60 of 1973) when cls (ee) and (eee) were added to sub-s (1) after cl (e) and the existing sub-s (2) was substituted for the original sub-s (2) which had run thus-‘A State Bar Council may constitute a fund in the prescribed manner for the purpose of giving financial assistance to indigent or disabled advocates’.
Sub-section (3) was also inserted by the same Amending Act of 1973
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The Bar Council of Gujarat has prepared very comprehensive draft of GUJARAT ADVOCATES’ WELFARE FUND ACT, 1991 for the welfare of the advocates registered with them and the same was submitted to the State Government as well as to the Hon’ble then Chief Minister and the Hon’ble then Finance Minister in the year 1982 for its appropriate enactment. It took about 10 years to culminate this into an enactment and for this the Bar Council of Gujarat ceaselessly persisted to see that appropriate law was passed by the State Legislature for the Welfare of the Advocates. Ultimately with the continuous and endless efforts by Late Shri Shahshikant Lakhani, the then Minister of Industries, Mr. Navinbhai Shastri, the then Minister of Law and Judiciary, Late Mr. H. L. Patel, the then Hon’ble Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and several other members of the legal fraternity, the Bar Council of Gujarat saw the light of the day and the said Bill was passed as Gujarat Advocates’ Welfare Fund Act, 1991 and it came into force with effect from 1st July, 1992. Till date more than 270 recognized Bar Associations with 47800 members on roll have been registered with The Bar Council of Gujarat under ‘Gujarat Advocates Welfare Fund Act, 1991.’
Under the scheme of ‘Gujarat Advocates Welfare Fund Act, 1991,’ the Bar Council of Gujarat has disbursed Rs. 35 crores to the legal heirs of the deceased advocates. The Bar Council of Gujarat has also disbursed Rs. 3,50,00,000 to the needy advocates who are suffering from serious ailments upto November, 2018. The Bar Council of Gujarat has also paid Rs. 24,97,000/- to the Advocates who are indigent and temporarily or permanently disabled.
Under the Section 6(1) (ee) of the Advocates Act, 1961 it is one of the functions of The Bar Council of Gujarat to publish journals and papers of legal interest. The Bar Council of Gujarat discharges the said function remarkably by publishing ‘GUJARAT LAW HERALD’ (GLH), which reports, landmark judgements laid down on different topics passed by the Hon’ble High Court of Gujarat and the Hon’ble Apex Court with acute promptness and accuracy. The head-notes of the judgements are published in vernacular language to help the mass.
The Bar Council of Gujarat is the only council who publishes the law journal. Not only that, but the State Council provides the journal to its members at “No Profit No Loss” basis. The Bar Council of Gujarat also provides 50% discount on the subscription of the journal to its members. In the same way, the Bar Council of Gujarat provides complimentary copies to each and every bar association across Gujarat. The Bar Council of Gujarat is the only council who is not only publishing the paper journal but also the only council having “e-library software.” The Bar Council of Gujarat regularly distributes complementary law books and law journals to all its registered Associations of Gujarat with an aim to provide regular legal education and up gradation to its Members. In the year 2012, the then Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Narendra Modi sanctioned a grant of Rs. 2, 21, 00, 000 from the State fund to provide E-library, computers and printers to all the registered Bar Associations of the Gujarat.
The Bar Council of Gujarat is a pioneer council which owns its own You-Tube Channel to provide continuous door step easy accessible legal education on various stream by the law experts. In all, the Bar Council of Gujarat is the only techno crate council which uses the latest technology to provide the continuous legal education and information to upgrade its registered members.
Under the scheme and program of Continuing Legal Education, the Bar Council of Gujarat has been organizing Workshops, Seminars at District and Zonal levels in order that the new entrants to the Bar and the junior members of the Bar in the State can take advantage at the grassroots level, expanding vistas of knowledge of law in the concerned branches of law. The modality of such workshops and seminars is that the subject’s threats are selected by the Bar Council in consultation with the representatives of the respective Bar Associations, which decide to host the same. Relevant Reading Materials in the form of handouts are prepared and furnished by the Bar Council of Gujarat to its participants. In such activity, the Bar Council of Gujarat has started its own “Gujarat Bar Council Advocates Academy” to benefit the Junior Lawyers in association with the “Gujarat National Law University”(GNLU). The important aspects of law and practice is to have proper legal education about the sections related to the law. For this the Bar Council of Gujarat arranges the classes for the improvement of modern English language in the form of legal usage. In order to have legally educated lawyers and ultimately better judges the Bar Council of Gujarat also arranges moot court competitions and law lecture series.
The Chairman and the Members of the Bar Council of Gujarat are expressing their feelings of gratitude and appreciation to all concerned who have directly or indirectly extended assistance and co-operation for the cause of the Bar Council of Gujarat.