History of Professional Ethics in India

This can be understood under two main Heads:

1. Position of Legal Profession -Pre Independence
2. Position of Legal Profession-Post Independance

 Hindu period-in past hindu period legal professional was existed but it was not in the organized
form, mainly it is done by the council ministers and saints who has to plead before king in the
particular case who has the knowledge of local religion. It is mention under the chapter 8 of
Manu Smriti and Dharma Sutra by Narad also mentioned by Narad and katyan.

 Muslim period- the legal profession was also not well organized during the Muslim period at
that time Vakil worked at Kazi, Maulvi and Mufti courts. They were paid percentage of the
amount as per the value of suit. Vakil worked as an agent .

 British period- legal profession was existed at that time but not paid due attention and
organized. no training provision and no knowledge of law is required who plead before King or
any other Court.

 Charter 1726- it was issued by crown by which Royal Mayor Court was established in
Madras,Calcutta and Bombay. It was also act as Court of Record, which punish for contempt of
court and the decision have binding power over lower courts. English law was applicable in
these courts and the decision is based on Justice, equity and good conscienous. In these Courts
mayor and 9 alderman passed the decision. These Court doesn't have criminal jurisdiction, it
was given to governors and 5 senior member of the Council of each Presidency town. No
training and special knowledge of law is necessary to practice before the courts.

 Charter 1774- Regulating act 1773 and 1774 do a lot for legal profession. Supreme Court was
established in Calcutta in 1774 in Madras in 1801 and in Bombay in 1823. the decision is based
on Justice, equity and good conscienous . Supreme Court approves the advocate and attorneys
who appeared before the Supreme Court. They also have power to deal with the revenue
matter but this jurisdiction was taken back by act of settlement in 1781. In these courts only
English, Irish and barrister from Scotland may practice but Indian were not allowed to appear
before Supreme Court as an advocate.

 Bengal Regulation Act 1793- Bengal Regulation Act 1793 allowed Hindu and Muslim to be
enrolled as a peader for first time in India. Bengal Regulation Act 12, 1833 provide that any
qualified or nationality person may be enrolled as a peader of Sadar Diwani Adalat. Legal
practitioner act of 1853 allowed barrister of Supreme Court to plead before the company courts
which is subordinate to company Court.

 Indian High Court act 1861- Under the British crown this act make a provision to make one High
Court in each Presidency Town. By this Supreme Court and Sadar Diwani Adalat were merged
 into High Court. By the Civil Court Act, 1867 High Court was established in Bengal, Assam and
Calcutta and power of supritendenance over civil and criminal Court was established in High
Court.

 Legal Practitioner Act 1879-it provide that all peader, advocate & Vakil of High Court may
practice in all subordinate courts where they were enrolled in particular language. law graduate
from Bombay may also enrolled as an advocate.Section 6 of this act make a provision about
removal of pleader and mukhtar. Section 7 made a provision to issue a certificate to pleaders.
Section 13 provides for dismissal of advocates for professional misconduct.

 Indian bar council act 1926- By this act Vakil and pleaders were merged into single class of
advocates who can practice and enrolled in High Court. This act provides the establishment of
one bar at each High Court which regulate the matter of enrollment, qualification and
misconduct. The rules framed by bar council will be enforced after the approval of High Court.
High Court can suspend remove, reprimand any advocate who is found guilty of professional
misconduct.

Post Independence

 After the Independence Indian government make effort to improve the legal profession, so they
made a committee under S.R Dass in 1951 who submit their report in 1953 which was again
submitted to fifth Law Commission for their recommendation and after scrutinizing the previous
report fifth Law Commission has given his recommendation in on which Advocate Act, 1961 has
been passed.

 Advocate Act, 1961- According to Advocate Act, 1961 Vakil, mukhtar, attorney, p leader,
solicitor were consolidated into one class named as “advocate”. This act also provides the
various definitions like advocates, bar council, state bar council, etc. Chapter governing
admission, enrollment, constitution of Bar Council were enforced on December 1961.
 Qualification for the Admission and the Enrollment as an Advocate
under the Advocate Act 1961
              Advocate means an advocate entered in any roll under the provision of Advocate Act 1961.
Chapter 3 of the Advocate Act, makes provision for the admission and enrollment of Advocates.If a
person fulfills the conditions required for admissions as an advocates, he may be enrolled as an
advocate by the State Bar Council. The Conditions to be fulfilled for being enrolled as an Advocate have
been stated in Section 24 of the Advocate Act are as follows : 

Qualification for the Admission and the Enrollment  as an Advocate :

 
         A person shall be qualified to be admitted as an advocate on a State roll, if he fulfills the following
conditions -
               1) He is a citizen of India, Provided that subject to the other provisions contained in this Act, a
national of any other country may be admitted as an advocate on a State roll, if citizens of India, duly
qualified, are permitted to practice law in that other country;

                2) He has completed the age of twenty-one years;

                3) He has obtained a degree in law —

                
                         (i) before the 12th day of March, 1967 from any University in the territory of India;
or             
                         (ii) before the 15th August, 1947, from any University in any area which was comprised
before that date within India as defined by the Government of India Act, 1935; or
                 
                         (iii) after the 12th day of March, 1967, save as provided in sub-clause (iiia), after
undergoing a three year course of study in law from any University in India which is recognized for the
purposes of this Act by the Bar Council of India; or
                
                        (iiia) after undergoing a course of study in law, the duration of which is not less than two
academic years commencing from the academic year 1967-68 or any earlier academic year from any
University in India which is recognized for the purposes of this Act by the Bar Council of India; or he is
barrister and is called to the Bar on or before the 31st day of December, 1976 or has passed the articled
clerks examination or any other examination specified by the High Court at Bombay or Calcutta for
enrollment as an attorney of that High Court or has obtained such other foreign qualification in law as is
recognized by the Bar Council of India for the purpose of admission as an advocate under this Act.

                       (iv) In any other case, from any University outside the territory of India, if the degree is
recognized for the purposes of this Act by the Bar Council of India or; he is barrister and is called to the
Bar on or before the 31st day of December, 1976 or has passed the articled clerks examination or any
other examination specified by the High Court at Bombay or Calcutta for enrollment as an attorney of
that High Court; or has obtained such other foreign qualification in law as is recognized by the Bar
Council of India for the purpose of admission as an advocate under this Act;

               3) He fulfills such other conditions as may be specified in the rules made by the State Bar
Council under this Chapter;
  
               4) He has paid, in respect of the enrollment, stamp duty, if any, chargeable under the Indian
Stamp Act, 1899 and prescribed enrollment fee payable to the State Bar Council as prescribed. (six
hundred rupees and to the Bar Council of India, one hundred and fifty rupees by way of a bank draft
drawn in favour of that Council) Provided that where such person is a member of the Schedule Castes or
the Schedule Tribes and produces a certificate to that effect from such authority as may be prescribed,
the enrollment fee payable by him to the State Bar Council shall be one hundred rupees and to the Bar
Council of India, twenty-five rupees.

Explanation —

              For the purposes of this sub-section, a person shall be deemed to have obtained a degree in law
from a University in India on that date on which the results of the examination for that degree are
published by the University on its notice board or otherwise declaring him to have passed that
examination.

            Section 24(2) of the Advocate Act, makes it clear that a vakil or a pleader who is a law graduate]
may be admitted as an advocate on a State roll, if he —

                    (a) makes an application for such enrollment in accordance with the provisions of this Act,
not later than two years from the appointed day, and

                   (b) fulfills the conditions specified in clauses (a), (b), (e) and (f) of sub-section (1).

Section 24 (3) of Advocates Act makes it Clear that Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section
(1) a person who—
                                      (a) has, for at least three years, been a vakil or pleader or a mukhtar, or, was
entitled at any time to be enrolled under any law as an advocate of a High Court including a High Court
of a former Part B State) or of a Court of Judicial Commissioner in any Union territory; or
                                     (aa) before the 1st day of December, 1961, was entitled otherwise than as an
advocate to practice the profession of law (whether by of pleading or acting or both) by virtue of the
provision of any law, or who would have been so entitled had he not been in public service on the said
date; or
                                       (c) before the 1st day of April, 1937, has been an advocate of any High Court in any
area which was comprised within Burma as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935; or
                                        (d) is entitled to be enrolled as an advocate under any rule made by the Bar
Council of India in this behalf, may be admitted as an advocate on a State roll if he —

                                        (i) makes an application for such enrollment in accordance with the provisions of
this Act; and
                                        (ii) fulfills the conditions specified in clauses (a), (b), (e) and (f) of sub-section.

State Bar Council has a right to refuse to enroll person with LL.B Degree as an Advocate. See case  Dr.
Haniraj Chulani Vs. Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa In this case   In this case supreme court held
that the rule made by the bar council restricting the entry of person already carried on other profession
is not admitted and therefore not violate to the Article 14, 19(1) (g) and article 21 of the constitution.

Disqualifications for enrollment as an Advocate

          Section 24A which has been inserted by Advocate (Amendment) Act, 1973 lays down the
conditions under which a person shall be disqualified for being enrolled as a member of the State  Bar
Council.  Originally there were two grounds of Disqualification, 1) For conviction of an offense under the
Untouchability Act, 1955. and; 2) Conviction of an offense involving moral turpitude. However a third
clause has been inserted by the Amendment of 1993 that dismissal or removal from employment or
office under the State on any charge involving moral turpitude.  

The self explanatory provisions of Section 24 A are as follows :

(1) No person shall be admitted as an advocate on a State roll —

(a) if he is convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude;

(b) if he is convicted of an offence under the provisions of the Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955

(c) if he is dismissed or removed from employment or office under the State on any charge involving
moral turpitude.

Explanation—

         In this clause, the expression “State” shall have the meaning assigned to it under Article 12 of the
Constitution:
            Provided that the disqualification for enrolment as aforesaid shall cease to have effect after a
period of two years has elapsed since his release or dismissal or, as the case may be, removal.
(2) Nothing contained in sub-section (1) shall apply to a person who having been found guilty is dealt
with under the provisions of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958.
         Apart from the above provisions of disqualification of an advocate the Maharashtra and Goa Bar
Council under Rule 1(1) denies simultaneous practice of another profession along with the practice law. 

case  in this respect →→ Dr. Haniraj Chulani Vs. Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa

Right to Practice under the Advocates Act, 1961

1. Introduction : 
                            According to the Section 29 to 34 of the Advocate Act, 1961, Practice of Advocates is a
right. Section 29 of the Advocate Act, 1961, lays down provisions that "the Advocates are the only
recognized class of persons entitled to practice law". It may be noted that under this section, only one
category of person, the Advocates, are authorized to practice, subject to the Provisions of this Act. In
D.A.S.  Swami Vs. Kulbendran AIR 1967 it has been held that a person who is not an Advocate on the
roll of High Court, has no right to represent the accused

 2. Right to Practice : 

A) Advocates to be the only recognized class of persons entitled to Practice law (Section.29)

                 Subject to the provisions of this Act and any rules made thereunder, there shall, as from the
appointed day, be only one class of persons entitled to practice the profession of law, namely,
advocates.

B) Right of Advocates to practice (Article 30)

               Subject to provisions of this Act, every advocate whose name is entered in the State roll shall be
entitled as of right to practice throughout the territories to which this Act extends —

                                  (i) in all Courts including the Supreme Court;

                                 (ii) before any tribunal or person legally authorized to take evidence; and

                                 (iii) before any other authority or person before whom such advocate is by or under
any law for the time being in force entitled to practice..

C) Advocates alone entitled to practice (Section 33)

                      Except as otherwise provided in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force, no
person shall, on or after the appointed day, be entitled to practice in any court or before any authority
or person unless he is enrolled as an advocate under this Act.

 3.Conditions for Right to Practice 

       Bar Council of India has framed rules accordingly and Chapter III of the Bar council of India rules
regarding conditions for right to practice provides as follows : 

          1) Every Advocate shall be under an obligation to see that his name appears in the roll of State
Council  within whose jurisdiction he ordinarily  practices: 

             Provided that if an advocate does not apply for transfer of his name to the roll of the State Bar
Council within whose jurisdiction he is ordinarily practicing within 6 months of the start of the practice,
it shall be deemed that he is guilty of professional misconduct within the meaning of section 35 of the
Advocate Act.

           2) An advocate shall not enter into a partnership of any other arrangement for sharing
remuneration with any person or legal practitioner who is not an advocate.

           3) Every advocate shall keep informed the bar council on the roll of which his name stands, of
every change of  his address.

            4) The Council or a State Council can call upon an advocate to furnish the name of the state
council on the role of which his name is entered, and call for other particulars.

            5) i) An Advocate who voluntarily suspends his practice for any reason whatsoever shall intimate
by registered post to the State Bar Council on the rolls of which his name is entered, of such suspension
together with his certificate of enrollment in original.

              ii) Whenever any such advocate who has suspended his practice desires to resume his practice
shall apply to the Secretary of the State Bar Council for resumption of practice along with an affidavit
damping stating whether he has incurred any of the disqualifications under Section 24A, Chapter III of
the Act during the period of suspension.

               iii) The Enrollment Committee of State Bar Council may order with the resumption of his
practice and return the certificate to him with necessary endorsement. If the enrollment committee is of
the view that the Advocate has incurred any of the disqualifications the committee shall refer  the
matter under proviso to Section 26(1) of the Act.

                iv) On Suspension and resumption of his practice the Secretary shall act in terms of rule 24 of
part IX.

               6) i) An advocate whose name has been removed by order of the Supreme Court or a High Court
or Bar Council as the case may be, shall not be entitled to practice the profession of law either before
the court or before the authorities mentioned under Section 30 of the Act, or in Chambers or otherwise.
                ii) An advocate who is under suspension shall be under the same disability one in which he held
office.
               7) An officer after his retirement or otherwise ceasing to be in service shall not practice for a
period of 2 years in the area in which he exercised jurisdiction for a period of 3 years before his
retirement or otherwise ceasing to be in service.

               8) No Advocate shall be entitled to practice if in the opinion of the Council he is suffering from
such contagious disease as makes the practice of law hazard to the health of others. The disqualification
shall last for such period as the Council directs from time to time.

 4. Advocate Alone entitled to practice 

                   Section 33 of Advocates Act, 1961 provide  that except as otherwise provided in this Act or in
any other law for the time being in force, no person shall, on or after the appointed day, be entitled to
practice in any court or before any authority or person unless he is enrolled as an advocate under this
Act. it means advocates alone are entitled to practice in a Court or in any Authority.  

5. Case Law - 

 Hari Shankar Rastogi vs. Girdhari Sharma AIR 1978 SC 1019  In this the Case Supreme court has held
that a private person who is not an advocate , has no right to barge into Court and claim to argue for a
party. 

Professional Misconduct
1) Meaning of Misconduct - 
                                   Misconduct is the antonyms of conduct. Conduct means behavior with good
manners and treatment shown towards others . Misconduct represents misbehavior.  Misconduct as
explained in the Dictionary is 'improper conduct'. The term 'misconduct' has been defined in Black's 
Dictionary as 'a transgression of some established and defined rule of action, a forbidden act , a
dereliction of duty, unlawful behavior, wilful in character, improper or wrong behavior'. Its synonyms
are misdemeanor, impropriety, mismanagement,offence , but not negligence or carelessness.

         In State of Panjab V. Ram Singh (AIR 1992, SC 2188) the Supreme Court held that the term may
involve moral turpitude,      

          An advocate is bound to conduct himself in a manner befitting the high and honorable legal
profession. The legal profession is a noble profession having high traditions. An advocate is expected to
uphold those traditions. He must comply with the conduct of professional ethics and etiquette as laid
down by bar council of India.

2) Meaning of Professional misconduct and other misconduct -

         Section 35 of the Advocate makes it clear that an advocate may be punished for professional
misconduct or other misconduct. The terms misconduct and professional misconduct are not defined In
Section 35 or any other  provisions of the Advocate Act, 1961. The expression 'professional or other
misconduct' are mentioned in section 10 of Bar councils Act,1926. by using those words it was made
clear that the authority might take action in all cases of misconduct, whether in professional or other
capacity. 

       Every misconduct may not be Professional or other misconduct. Only unsatisfactory professional
conduct of a substantial, recurring or continuing nature is considered as professional or other
misconduct. Thus a guilty or fraudulent grossly improper conduct of an advocate in the discharge of his
professional duty is considered as professional misconduct.    

     Professional misconduct is conduct occurring otherwise than in connection with the practice of law
that would justify a finding that its preparation is not of good fame and character or is not a fit and
proper person to remain on the Roll of Legal Practitioners.    

Giving of improper Advice and wrong Advice - 

                      
                         It is professionally improper for a member of Bar to prepare false document or to draw
pleadings knowingly that the allegations made are untrue to his knowledge. Thus, giving of improper
legal advice may amount to professional misconduct.

 Negligence and Professional misconduct - 

                        Whether negligence will amount professional misconduct or not depends upon the facts
and circumstance of each case.Gross negligence in the discharge of duties partake of shade of
delinquency and would undoubtedly amount to professional misconduct. But negligence without moral
turpitude or delinquency may not amount to professional misconduct.

Moral turpitude - 

           Moral turpitude is very serious professional  misconduct. From section 24-A of the Advocate Act, it
is clear that a person cannot be admitted as an advocate on a State Roll if he is convicted of an offence
involving moral turpitude. Thus a person who is convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude is
disqualified for being admitted as an advocate on the State Roll of advocates. This means that the
conduct involving conviction of an offence moral turpitude which will disqualify a person from being
enrolled as an advocate has to be considered a serious misconduct.when found to have been committed
by a person who is enrolled as an advocate and it would call for the imposition of punishment of
removal of the name of the advocate from the Roll of Advocates.

3) Examples of Misconduct of Advocates -

 Discourteous behaviour towards the Bench in the Court.  
 Involving in moral turpitude.

 Defrauding of cheating the party.

   Engaging in a business of profit making. 

  Failing to file a case after accepting a brief and fee plus expenses.

  Exhibiting ill temper which has the effect of overbearing the Court.

  Giving of improper Advice and wrong advice

 Use of hot words or epithets or disrespectful, derogatory or threatening language in the court.

  Framing of charge against Advocate.

           The Advocate Act, 1961 , has conferred the jurisdiction to take action in all cases of misconduct
both professional or other and left it to the discretion of Disciplinary Authority. It is the charging party
has the burden of proving the charge of misconduct in the Disciplinary proceedings.

Advertising of Legal Profession

             Legal Profession In India have been expressly barred from advertising their services through any
media whatsoever. The Bar Council of India have framed rules under Section 49(1)(c) of the Advocate
Act known as standard of professional conduct and etiquette. These are professional ethics which an
advocate enrolled to any Bar Council obliged to follow. It is the duty of every advocate enrolled in any
state roll follow these standards)

According to Rule 36 of the Bar Council, Advertising for professional work in any manner has been
prohibited-
                Which reads as under, " An advocate shall not solicit work or advertise either directly or
indirectly whether by circulars, advertisements, touts, personal communications interviews not
warranted by personal relations, furnishing or inspiring newspaper comments or procuring his
photograph to be published in connection with cases in which he has been engaged or concerned."

     His  signboard or nameplate of stationary should be of reasonable size. The signboard or nameplate
or stationary should not indicate that he is or has been President or Member of a Bar Council or of any
association or that he has been associated with any person or organization or with any particular cause
or matter or that he specializes in any particular type of work that he has been a judge or an Advocate
General.
Bar Council of Maharashtra v. M.V. Dabholkar AIR 1976 SC 242.
In this case Justice Krishna Iyer Observed on the idea of advertising of legal services in the following
words, " The canons of ethics and property for the legal profession totally taboo conduct by way of
soliciting, advertising, scrambling and other obnoxious practices, subtle or clumsy, for betterment of
legal business. Law is not trade, briefs no merchandise and to the leaven of commercial competition or
procurement should not vulgarize the legal profession.        
 
               It is the duty of an advocate to fulfill the above mentioned duties to his colleagues. The object
of framing this rule is to safeguard the interest of profession itself. Advocacy is and profession and not a
business. The restriction put on this profession under the said rule is Constitutional and not violative to
Article 19 (1) (g) and Article 21 of the Constitution. Moreover such restrictions are just , fair , and
reasonable and not arbitrary, fanciful and evasive. It satisfy the twin test given in Article 14 of
Constitution. i.e. the classification is just, fair and reasonable and there is Nexus between the object and
classification. The object is to achieve the efficiency of advocates to the legal profession, to safeguard
the interest of both advocate as well as public at large and the better administration of Justice for which
the legal profession is a partner with the judiciary.

Punishments that can be given to an Advocate under the Advocates

Act,1961 for professional misconduct

          Before the Enactment of the Advocate Act, 1961 , High court has the Disciplinary jurisdiction over
legal practitioners. The High Court is the competent authority to punish the advocates for their
professional misconduct. But now the Advocate Act, 1961 entrusted this jurisdiction of dealing
misconduct of the advocates to the Bar councils. As the Bar council is a large body with the multiple
activities, it entrusted to their Disciplinary Committees . The Disciplinary Committees have authority to
hold Disciplinary proceedings against the misconduct of advocates.

 The authority to punishment for professional misconduct - 

                 Section 35 of the Advocate Act provides that on receipt of a complaint or otherwise if

a State Bar Council has reason to believe that any advocate on its roll has been guilty of
professional or other misconduct, it shall refer the case for disposal to its Disciplinary
Committee. Section 9 of the Act empowers the State Bar Council to constitute one or more
Disciplinary Committees. The Disciplinary Committee will consist of three members of whom
two shall be persons elected by the council from amongst its members and other shall be a
person co-opted by the council from amongst advocates who passes the qualification specified
in the proviso to sub section (2) of section 3 and who are not members of the Council and the
senior most advocate amongst the members of a Disciplinary Committee shall be the
chairman thereof .
According to Section 35(1-A) of Advocate Act Provides that the State Bar council may, either of its own
motion or on application made by it by any person interested ,  withdraw a proceeding pending before
its Disciplinary Committee and direct the inquiry  to be made by any other Disciplinary Committee of
that State Bar council.

According to section 35(2) of the Advocate Act, the disciplinary committee of a State Bar council shall fix
a date for the hearing of the case and shall cause a notice thereof to be given to the advocate concerned
and the Advocate-General of the State.
Section 35 (3) Provides that the Disciplinary Committee of a State Bar Council after giving the Advocate
concerned and the Advocate General on opportunity of being heard, may make following orders,
namely : -

     a) Dismiss the complaint  or where the proceedings were initiated at the instance of the State Bar
Council, direct that the proceedings be filed;
      b) Reprimand the advocate 
      c) Suspend the advocate from practice for such period as it may deem fit ;
      d) Remove the name of the advocate from the State roll of advocates.

    Where an advocate is suspended from practice as per the order of disciplinary committee he shall
during the period of suspension, be debarred from practicing in any court or before any authority or
person in India.. 

Remedies against the order of punishment passed by the Disciplinary

Committee
              Section 35 of Advocate Act 1961 provides for punishment for professional misconduct or other
misconduct. In exercise of powers under Section 35 of the Advocate Act, on receipt of a complaint
against an advocate or suo moto, if the State Bar Council has reason to believe that any Advocate on its
roll has been guilty of professional or other misconduct, disciplinary proceedings may be initiated
against him. The Disciplinary Committee of the State Bar Council is empowered to inflict punishment
including removal of his name from the rolls of the Bar Council and suspending him from practice for a
period deemed fit by  it, after giving advocate concerned and the Advocate-General of the state an
opportunity of hearing. However, an appeal against the order of the Disciplinary Committee may be
preferred to the bar Council of India under Section 37 and thereafter to the Supreme Court of India
against the order of the Bar Council of India under the section 38 of Advocate Act, 1961.

               The Advocate Act provides remedies against the order of punishment. An advocate aggrieved by
the order of Disciplinary Committee can evoke  the following remedies -
1) Review 
2) Revision
3) Application for Stay
4) Appeal

1) Review : 

             It is provided in Section 44 of the Advocates Act,1961. By virtue of this Section  the Disciplinary
Committee of Bar Council of its own motion or otherwise review any order, within 60 days of the date of
order passed by it under this Chapter. However, no such order of Review of the Disciplinary Committee
of a State Bar Council shall have effect, unless it has been approved by the Bar Council of India.
        According to Section 48-AA of the Bar Council of India or any of the its Disciplinary Committee, may
on its own motion or otherwise, review any order, within 60 days of the date of that order, passed by it
under the Advocate Act 1961.    

        The procedure for making review application is given in chapter II, Part VII of the rules of the Bar
Council of India. It is in the form of petition duly signed and supported by an affidavit accompanied by
prescribed fee and certified copy of the order, complained of.
Rules For Review under Section 44 of the Act as follows

  (1) An application for review under Section 44 of the Act shall be in the form of a petition duly signed
and supported by an affidavit accompanied by the prescribed fee and filed within 60 days from the date
of the order sought to be reviewed.
  (2) Every such application shall be accompanied by :

                (a) certified copy of the order complained of.

                (b) five additional copies of the application,  affidavit and the order; and

                (c) if there are more respondents than one, as many additional true copies as may be
necessary.

   (3) Every such application shall set out the grounds on which the Review is sought and shall further
state whether any proceeding in respect thereof was filled and is still pending or the result thereof as
the case may be. 

   (4) If a Disciplinary Committee of Bar Council does not summarily reject the application under Section
44 of the Act, or wishes to exercise its powers under Section 44 suo motu,  the secretary of a Bar Council
shall issue as nearly as maybe in the Form,  notice  to the parties and to the Advocate-General
concerned or the Additional Solicitor-General of India in the case of the Bar Council of India.

    (5) (1) If after the hearing referred to in rule 4, the Disciplinary Committee of a State Bar Council does
not dismiss the application, and decides that the application for review should be allowed, the copy of
the order along with the relevant record shall be sent to the bar council of India for approval.

         (2) If the Bar Council of India approves the order of the Bar Council, the Disciplinary Committee of
the State Bar Council shall communicate the order to the parties, if the bar council of India does not
approved it, the Disciplinary Committee of the State Bar Council shall make its order dismissing the
application and inform the parties.

    (6) The decision of the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India on an application for Review
of its order shall be communicated to the parties.

    (7) In the proceedings under this chapter,  unless the disciplinary committee of the State Bar Council
or the Bar Council of India, as the case may be otherwise decides, the parties may appear by the
Advocate who shall file a Vakalatnama signed by the party.
2) Revision Section. 48-A  (Amendment 1964 )
        1) The Bar Council of India may, at anytime call for the record of proceeding under this Act which
has been disposed of by the State Bar Council or a Committee thereof, and from which no appeal lies,
for the purpose of satisfying itself as to the legality or propriety of such disposal and may pass such
orders in relation thereto as it may think fit.

         2) No order which prejudicially affects any person shall be passed under this section without giving
a reasonable opportunity of being heard.

3) Application for Stay – 

        According to Section 40(1) of the Advocate Act,1961, an Appeal made under Section 37 or Section
38 shall not operate as a stay of the order appealed against, but the Disciplinary Committee of India and
the Supreme Court as the case may be, may for sufficient cause direct the stay of such order on such
terms and conditions as it may deem fit. Rule 29 of chapter I Part VII of the Bar Council of India Rules
provides that an application for stay shall be accompanied by an affidavit and the fee prescribed by the
Bar Council of India.   

 4) Appeal - 

 A) Appeal to the Bar Council of India

 B) Appeal to Supreme Court

A) Appeal to the Bar Council of India -

              In case the order of punishment has been passed by the Disciplinary Committee of the State Bar
Council, an Appeal may be preferred to the Bar Council of India under Section. 37 of the Advocates
Act,1961. It provides that any person aggrieved by an order of the Disciplinary Committee of a State Bar
council made under Section 35, of the Advocate-General of State may, within 60 days of the date of the
communication of the order to him, prefer an appeal to the Bar Council of India. Under Section 37(2),
every such Appeal shall be heard by the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India which may
pass such order including an order varying the punishment awarded by the Disciplinary Committee of
the State Bar Council thereon as it deemed fit ;

        Provided that no order of the Disciplinary Committee of the State Bar Council shall be varied by the
Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India so as to prejudicially affect the person aggrieved
without giving him a reasonable opportunity of being heard.

 B) Appeal to Supreme Court -

             As per section 38 of the Advocates Act,1961 any person aggrieved by an order made by the
Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India under Section 36 or Section 37 or the Attorney-
General of India or the Advocate-General of the State concerned, as the case may be, may, within 60
days of the date on which the order is communicated to him, prefer an appeal to the Supreme Court
and the Supreme Court may pass such order including an order varying the punishment awarded by the
disciplinary committee of the Bar Council of India thereon as it deems fit :

Provided that no order of the Disciplinary Committee of the bar Council of India shall be varied by the
Supreme Court so as to prejudicially affect the person aggrieved without giving him a reasonable
opportunity of being heard .

         The Bar Council of India has framed the rules as to the procedure to be observed in case of Appeal.
The Appeal memo in a prescribed form to be accompanied with the certified copy of the order appealed
against signed by the appellant with a prescribed fee within limitation period. Delay can be condoned if
satisfactorily explained and to be supported by an affidavit.

Thus, an appeal against the order passed by the Disciplinary Committee may be preferred to the Bar
council of India and an appeal against the order of the Bar council of India may be preferred to the
Supreme Court.

O.N. Mohindro vs District Judge, Delhi , AIR 1971, SC 107

           In this case it was held that the appeal to the Supreme Court is not a restricted Appeal. It is not an
appeal on law alone but also on fact.  Supreme Court must in all cases go into the matter to satisfied
itself that justice has been done by the Disciplinary Committee Committees. The Supreme Court
possesses under the constitution special power of review and futher may pass any order to do full and
effective justice under section 38 Supreme Court has jurisdiction to pass in such appeals any order it
deems fit

Concept and role of Bar-Bench Relation with Reference to

Administration of Justice
     (i) Bar :
       Advocates are enrolled by the State Bar Council as such, on getting L.L.B degree from a University
and getting a certain training under some advocate as prescribed by rules. The advocates are known as
the 'Bar' as a whole body of advocates and an advocate represents the Bar. In short, Bar is a collective
term for the attorneys who are licensed to practice in the Courts, or a particular court, of any state. 

    (ii) Bench :

           Bench means all the judges taken together as distinguished from the ‘Bar’ the name for all the
members of the legal profession-bench is that part of the court considered in its official capacity, while
the judges are sitting. The earlier meaning of Bar contained the part of Bench also at the present term
‘Bar’ is applied for the attorneys part of the court and the term is used for the judicial officers part of the
Court.

2) Role of Bar Bench in Administration of Justice 

         The Bar and Bench play important role in the administration of justice. According to Justice C.L.
Anand, there is no office in the State of such power as that of the Judge. Judges hold power which is
immensely greater than that of any other functionary. The common people's life, and liberty, personal
domestic happiness, property, and reputation subject to the wisdom of the judges and hang citizens on
their decisions. If  Judicial power becomes corrupt no security is left of life, liberty expires, there no
guarantee is left of personal or domestic happiness. A strong powerful, impartial active and the capable
judiciary is the greatest need of a State. On the account of the importance of the judges in the
maintenance of the orderly society, judges should perform their duties.

         Like Judges, Advocates also plays important role in the administration of Justice. Advocates are
officers of the Court, they are expected to assist the Court in the Administration of Justice. Advocates
collect materials relating to the case and thereby assist the Court in arriving at a (conclusion)correct
judgment. An advocate is a partner with the judiciary in the administration of Justice. 

3) Bar-Bench Relations:

      Administration of Justice is not something which concerns Bench only. It concerns the Bar also.
Mutual respect is necessary for the maintenance of the cordial relations between the Bar and Bench.
Advocates and Judges are complementary to each other. Bar is the Principal ground for recruiting
Judges. So they both belong to the same community. ar and Bench should maintain cordial relations
with each other. But on account of nature of duties to be discharged by advocates and judges, they may
get into dialogues sometimes, humorous, sometimes heated and sometimes harsh.

      Scandalising of the court by an advocate is really polluting the very foundation of justice and such
conduct by an advocate brings disrepute to the whole administration of justice. 

  The attitude of an Advocate towards the Court should be one of the uniform respect, whatever the
status of the Court. Advocates Private opinion about the Presiding officer, he must not show in its
behavior because he has to uphold the dignity of the judiciary as an institution. At the same, it is equally
the duty of the judiciary not only to be polite towards the members of the Bar but to do everything
possible to advance ints high traditions.     

     The uncourteous conduct or misconduct of a lawyer or judge may amount to contempt of Court,
there are two Types of Contempt of Court. for example, using insulting language against a judge or
threatening him with transfer or impeachment or addressing the judge in a loose manner or questioning
his authority to ask questions or making scandalous allegations against a judge etc. It amounts to
contempt of Court. He is liable for his uncourteous act and punishable for such contempt of Court. The
punishment for contempt of Court is intended to protect the public confidence in the system of
Administration of Justice.   

The Constitution, Powers and Functions of a State Bar Council

            The Advocate Act, 1961, has made provisions for the establishment of Bar Councils. The Bar
Council will be two patterns - Bar Council of India and State Bar Council.  Under Section 3 of the Act
State Bar Council will be established. However, Under Section 4, a Bar Council of India will be
established.

State Bar Councils :  

(1) There shall be a Bar Council — 

      (a) for each of States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Orissa, Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, to be known as the
Bar Council of that State; 

      (b) for the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura
to be known as the Bar Council of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and
Arunachal Pradesh.

      (c) for the State of Kerala and  the Union territory of Lakshadweep, to be known as the Bar Council of
Kerala; 

      (cc) for the State of Tamil Nadu and the Union territory of Pondicherry to be known as the Bar
Council of Madras;

      (ccc) for the States of Maharashtra and Goa, and the Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and
Daman and Diu, to be known as the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa; 

        (d) for the States of Punjab and Haryana, and the Union territory of Chandigarh, to be known as the
Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana; 

        (dd) for the State of Himachal Pradesh, to be known as the Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh;  

          (e) for the State of West Bengal and the Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, to be
known as the Bar Council of West Bengal; and 

           (f) for the Union territory of Delhi, to be known as the Bar Council of Delhi. 

(2) A State Bar Council shall consist of the following members, namely:— 

         (a) in the case of the State Bar Council of Delhi, the Additional Solicitor General of India ex officio in
the case of the State Bar Council of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura, the Advocate
General of each of the State of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, ex officio; in the case
of the State Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, the Advocate-General of each of the State of Punjab and
Haryana, ex officio; and in the case of any other State Bar Council, the Advocate-General of the State, ex
officio; 

         (b) in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate not exceeding five thousand, fifteen
members, in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate exceeding five thousand but not
exceeding ten thousand, twenty members, and in the case of the State Bar Council with an electorate
exceeding ten thousand, twenty-five members, 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: Provided that as nearly as possible one-half of such elected members shall subject
to any rules that may be made in this behalf by the Bar Council of India, be persons who have for at least
ten years been advocates on a State roll, and in computing the said period of ten years in relation to any
such person, there shall be included any period during which the person has been an advocate enrolled
under the Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926 (38 of 1926).

 Term of Office of the Members of State Bar Council :  Section 8 Provides term of the office of the
Members of the State Bar Council -             

        The term of office of an elected member of a State Bar Council (other than an elected member
thereof referred to in section 54) shall be five years from the date of publication of the result of his
election: 

         Provided that where a State Bar Council fails to provide for the election of its member before the
expiry of the said term, the Bar Council of India may, by order for reasons to be recorded in writing,
extend the said term, the Bar Council of India may, by order, extend the said term for a period not
exceeding six months.

 Functions of State Bar Council :                                    

   a) General functions - 

Section 6(1) of the Advocate Act 1961 makes provisions in respect of the functions of the State Bar
Council. 

       (1) to admit persons as advocates on its roll; 

        (2) to prepare and maintain such roll; 

        (3) to entertain and determine cases of misconduct against advocates on its roll; 

        (4) to safeguard the rights, privileges and interests of advocates on its roll; 

        (5) 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 clause (a) of sub-section (2) of
section 7;

        (6) to promote and support law reform; 

        (7) to conduct seminars and organise talks on legal topics by eminent jurists and publish journals
and paper of legal interest; 

         (8) to organise legal aid to the poor in the prescribed manner; 

         (9) to manage and invest the funds of the Bar Council; 
 (10) to provide for the election of its members; 

        (11) to visit and inspect Universities in accordance with the directions given under clause (i) of sub-
section (1) of section 7; 

        (12) to perform all other functions conferred on it by or under this Act; (i) to do all other things
necessary for discharging the aforesaid functions. 

 A State Bar Council may constitute one or more funds in the prescribed manner for the purpose of— 

        (a) giving financial assistance to organise welfare schemes for the indigent, disabled or other
advocates; 

        (b) giving legal aid or advice in accordance with the rules made in this behalf;       

        (c) establishing law libraries.

A State Bar Council may receive any grants, donations, gifts or benefactions for all or any of the
purposes specified in sub- section (2) which shall be credited to the appropriate fund or funds
constituted under that sub-section.

   b) To Issue Certificates of Enrollment -

Section 22 of Advocate Act 1961 provides that, There shall be issued a certificate of enrollment in the
prescribed form by the State Bar Council to every person whose name is entered in the roll of advocates
maintained by it under this Act.

       Every person whose name is so entered in the State roll shall notify any change in the place of his
permanent residence to the State Bar Council concerned within ninety days of such change.

Admission as an Advocate on a State Roll - 

       A person may be enrolled as an advocate by the State Bar Council if he fulfills the Conditions
required for admission as an advocate Under section 24 of the Advocate Act, 1961. Conditions laid down
in this section for admission as an advocate, may be enrolled as an advocate by the State Bar Council,
namely : 

     a) He is a citizen of India.

     b) He has completed the age of twenty-one years.     

     c) He has obtained the degree of Law.

     d) He fulfills such other conditions as may be specified in the rules made by the State Bar Council.  

     e) He has paid, in respect of enrollment, stamp duty, and an enrollment fee payable to State Bar
Council.
          An application for enrollment shall be made in the prescribed form to the State Bar Council within
whose jurisdiction the applicant proposes to practice. The application is referred to enrollment
Committee of State Bar Council. The application may be allowed or rejected. Where the Enrollment
Committee of Bar Council propose to refuse any such application, it shall refer such application for the
opinion of the Bar Council of India. 

         It may be noted that Section 26A of Advocate Act empowers a State Bar Council by amendment of
1973 to remove from the State Roll the name of any Advocate who is dead or from whom a request has
been received to that effect.

 Section 27 of The Act Provides that where an application has been once refused, it cannot be
entertained by another Bar Council except in certain circumstances. It lays down that where a State Bar
Council has refused the application of any person for admission as an advocate on its roll, no other State
Bar Council shall entertain an application for admission of such person as an advocate on its roll, except
with the previous consent in writing of the State Bar Council which refused the application and of the
Bar Council of India.

          c) To Maintain Roll of Advocates -

  Section 17. of Advocate Act, 1961 provides that every State Bar Council shall prepare and maintain a
roll of advocates in which shall be entered the names and addresses of all persons who were entered as
advocates on the roll of any High Court under the Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926, immediately before the
appointed day including persons, being citizens of India, who before the 15th day of August, 1947, were
enrolled as advocates under the said Act in any area which before the said date was comprised within
India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935, and who at any time express an intention in the
prescribed manner to practice within the jurisdiction of the Bar Council also enroll  all other persons
who are admitted to be advocates on the roll of the State Bar Council under this Act on or after the
appointed date.

 Each such roll of advocates shall consist of two parts - the first part containing the names of senior
advocates and the second part, the names of other advocates. 

Section 19 of the Advocate Act, 1961, requires the State Bar Council to send copies of rolls of advocates
to the Bar Council of India. It provides that every State Bar Council shall send to the Bar Council of India
an authenticated copy of the roll of advocates prepared by it for the first time under this Act and shall
thereafter communicate to the Bar Council of India all alterations in, the additions to, any such roll, as
soon as the same have been made.

Powers of State Bar Council 

     a) Power to make rules                

               The State Bar Council has been empowered to make rules to carry on the purposes of section 16
to Section 27 of the Advocate Act, 196, dealing with the admission and enrollment of advocate, Section
28(1) provides that the State Bar Council may make rules to carry out the purposes of chapter III
(Section 16 to section 28) of the Act but this rules shall not effective unless approved by Bar Council of
India.     
     b) Power to punish Advocate 
                  The State Bar Council has Power to punish an advocate for professional misconduct and other
misconduct. The Disciplinary Committee of the State Bar Council may make any of the following order -  
               (a)dismiss the complaint or, where the proceedings were initiated at the instance of the State
Bar Council, direct that the proceedings be filed;
               (b) reprimand the advocate;
               (c) suspend the advocate from practice for such period as it may deem fit;
              (d) remove the name of the advocate from the State roll of advocates.

     c) To appoint Committees and Staff Members 

                 A bar Council establishes several committees to its function under this Act including the
disciplinary committee, Executive Committee, Enrollment Committee, etc. Every such committee is
allotted a distinct function to carry.

     d) To Maintain Accounts and Conduct Audit    

Section 12. of Advocate Act 1961 provides that every Bar Council shall cause to be maintained such
books of accounts and other books in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed. The accounts
of a Bar Council shall be audited by auditors duly qualified to act as auditors of companies under the
Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), at such times and in such manner as may be prescribed. A State Bar
Council shall send a copy of its accounts together with a copy of the report of the auditors thereon to
the Central Government and shall cause the same to be published in the Gazette of India

The functions of Bar Council of India

Section 7 of the advocate Act 1961 provides that the functions of Bar Council of India shall be –

A) The functions of bar council of India shall be –

i) to lay down standards of professional conduct and etiquette for advocates;

ii) to lay down the procedure to be followed by its disciplinary committee and the disciplinary committee
of each state bar council.
iii) to safeguard the rights, privileges and interests of advocates.
iv) to promote and support law reform.
v) to deal with the disposal of any matter arising under the Act which may be referred to it by a state bar
council.
vi) to exercise general supervision and control over the state bar council.
vii) to promote legal education and to lay down standards of such education in consultation with the
universities in India imparting such education and the state bar council
viii) to recognize universities whose degree in law shall be a qualification for enrollment for an advocate
for that purpose to visit and inspect universities or cause the state bar council to visit and inspect
universities in accordance with such direction as it may be given in this behalf
ix) to conduct seminars and organize talks on legal topics by eminent jurist and publish journals and
papers of legal interest.
x) to organize legal aid to the poor in the prescribed manner
xi)  to recognize on a reciprocal basis foreign qualifications in law obtained outside India for the purpose
of admission as an advocate under this Act.
xii) to manage and invest the funds of the bar council.
xiii) to provide for the election of its members
xiv) to perform all other functions conferred on it by or under this Act
xv) to do all other things necessary for discharging the aforesaid functions

  2) The bar council of India may constitute one or more funds in the prescribed manner for the purpose
of giving financial assistance to organize welfare schemes for indigent, disabled or other advocates
Giving legal aid or advice in accordance with the rules made in this behalf establishing law libraries

3)  Bar council of India may receive any grants donations, gifts or benefactions for all or any of the
purposes specified in sub-section (2) which shall be credited to the appropriate funds constituted under
the sub section.

             According to Section 7 (a) of the Advocate Act, 1961 the Bar Council of India may become a
member of international legal bodies such as the International Bar Association or International Legal Aid
Association, contribute such sums as it thinks fit to Such bodies by way of subscription or otherwise and
authorize expenditure on the participation of its representatives in any international legal conference
seminars.

B) Some of the important functions of Bar Council of India are as under – 

  I) Admission as advocate -
                         Section 20 of the Advocate Act provides that every advocate who was entitled as of right
to practice in the Supreme Court immediately before the appointed day and whose name was not
entered in any state roll may, within the prescribed time, express his intention in the prescribed form to
the Bar Council and on receipt thereof, the Bar Council of India shall direct that the name of each
advocate shall, without payment of any fee, be entered in the role of state Bar Council and the State Bar
Council  concerned shall comply with such direction.
                          Section 19 - In this Section of the Advocates Act 1961, requires the State Bar Council to
send copies of rolls of advocate to the Bar Council of India. It provides that every State Bar Council shall
send to the Bar Council of India an authenticated copy of the roll of Advocates prepare by it for the first
time under this Act and shall, thereafter, communicate to the Bar Council of India all alterations and
addition to, such roll as soon as the same have been made
                         Section.18 of Advocate Act 1961 makes provision in respect of transfer of name from one
State roll to another. It provides that any person whose name is entered as an advocate on the role of
any State Bar Council for the transfer of his name from the roll of State Bar Council to the roll of any
other State Bar Council and on receipt of any such application, the Bar Council of India shall direct that
the name of such person shall, without the payment of any few, be removed from the roll of the first
mentioned State Bar Council and  be entered in the roll of the other State Bar Council and State Bar
Council concerned shall comply with such direction.

II) Appointment of committees and Staff members -

              Section 9 of the Advocate Act empowers The Bar Council of India to appoint one or more
disciplinary committees, Legal aid committee’s u/s 9-A executive committee u/s 10(2), Legal Education
Committee, etc.
             Section 11 of the Advocate Act empowered the Bar Council to appoint a secretary and
accountant and such number of other persons as may deem necessary the secretary and accountant, if
any shall possesses such qualification.It is mandatory that the Bar Council shall have a secretary.

III) Maintenance of Advocates etc - 

           Section 12 of the Advocate Act requires the Bar Council of India to m maintain such book of
accounts and other books in such form and in such a manner as may be described. The account shall be
audited by the auditor's duly qualified to act as auditors of the companies, at such as times and in such a
manner as maybe prescribed. The Bar Council of India shall send a copy of its accountants together with
the copy of the report of the auditors thereon to the Central Government and shall cause same to be
published in the Gazette of India.

IV) Rules making power - 

             The Bar Council of India shall make Rules under the provisions of Section 15 of the Advocate Act.

            Section 15(2) of this Act provides that in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing power. Such Rules may provide for the election of the members of the Bar Council, chairman
and Vice-chairman, Election disputes, filling of casual vacancies in the Bar Council, power and duties of
chairman and vice-chairman, constitution of one or more funds, organizations of legal aid, and meetings
conduct of business of any committee, management and investment of funds of Bar Council.
          Section 49 of the Advocate Act confers on the Bar Council of India general power to make Rules for
discharging its functions under this Act.

V) Power to Punish for Professional or other misconduct -

          Section 36 of Advocate Act 1961 empowers the Bar Council of India to punish an Advocate for
professional or other misconduct like suspending advocate from practice for such as it may deem feet
and remove the name of the Advocate from the state roll of Advocate. It has power to dismiss the
complaint, reprimand the Advocate.

VI) Appellate Power -

         Section 37 of the Advocate act empowers the Bar Council of India to hear appeal against the order
of Disciplinary Committee of a Bar Council. Every such appeal shall be heard by the disciplinary
committee of Bar Council of India.
        Section 38  provides that any person aggrieved by the order passed by the Disciplinary Committee
of Bar Council of India, maybe challenged within 60 days by way of appeal before Supreme Court.

VII) Other powers and functions of Bar Council of India –

To give such financial assistance as it fit to the State Bar Council in need of funds for the purpose of
performing its function.

  To prevent a citizen of any country from practicing profession of law in India when that country
specified by the central government in this behalf, prevents citizen of India from practicing the
profession of law in their country.
  To call for the record of any proceedings from any State Bar Council or Committee thereof to
see legality and proprietary of such proceeding.

 To give its own order of any of its committee accept the disciplinary committee.

  To give direction to the State Bar Council or any other Committee thereof for the proper and
efficient discharge of the functions of the State Bar Council.

Enrolment of Supreme Court Advocates

Enrollment of Supreme Court Advocates

special provision for enrollment of certain Supreme Court advocates ( section 20 of advocate Act,1961 )

            1) notwithstanding anything contained in this chapter, every advocate who was entitled as of
right to practice in the supreme court immediately before the appointed  day and whose name is not
entitled in any state roll may, within the prescribed time,  Express his intention in the prescribed form to
the bar council of India for the entry of his name in the role of a state bar council and on receipt thereof
the bar council of India shall direct that the name of such advocate shall, without payment of any fee, be
entered in the role of that state bar council and the state bar council concerned shall comply with such
direction.

            2) any entry in the state roll made in compliance with the direction of the bar council of India
under subsection (1) shall be made in under of seniority determined in accordance with the provisions
of sub -section (3) of section 17.

Sub-section( 3) of section 17 says  thus -

                  " Entries in each part of the roll of advocate prepared and maintained by a State bar council
under this section shall be in the order of seniority, and subject to any rule that may be made by the bar
council of India in this behalf such seniority shall be determined as follows –
            (A) the seniority of an advocate referred to in clause (a) of the sub-section (1) shall be determined
in accordance with his date of enrolment under the Indian bar council Act,1961.

           (B) The seniority of any  person who was a senior advocate of the supreme court immediately
before the appointed day shall , for the purpose of the first part of the State roll,  be determined in
accordance with such principles as the bar council of India may specify ;

         (C) omitted

         (D) the seniority of any other person who, on or after appointed Day, is enrolled as a senior
advocate or is admitted as an advocate shall be determined by the date of such enrolment or admission,
as the case may be.

         (E)  Notwithstanding anything contained in class (a), the seniority of an attorney controlled
( whether before or after commencement of the Advocate (Amendment )Act, 1980 as an advocate shall
be determined in accordance with the date of  his enrollment as an attorney .

      According to rule 2(c) of the supreme court rules,1966, upon an advocate being designated as a
senior advocate, the registrar  shall communicate to all the High Courts and Secretary to the bar council
of India and the secretary of the state bar council concerned the name of the Said advocate and the date
on which he was so designated.

    According to rule 4 of the supreme court rules ,1966, any advocate not being a senior advocate may ,
on his fulfilling the conditions laid down in rule 5, be registered in the court as an advocate on record.

According to rule 5 of the supreme court rules ,1966, no advocates shall qualify to be registered as an
advocate on record unless -

     1) his name is, and has been, borne on the role of any state Bar Council for a period of not less than 3
years on the date of commencement of his training as provided hereinafter;

     2) he has undergone training for 1 year with an Advocate on record approved by the court, and has
thereafter passed such a test as may be held by the court for advocates who apply to be registrar as
advocates on record particulars  whereof shall be notified in the official gazette.

    A) anatomy shall be exempted from such a training and test; and

    B) the chief justice may,  in appropriate Cases, grant exemption from the requirement of training

3 ) he has an office in Delhi within a radius of 16 kilometres from the court house and gives a
undertaking to employ, within one month of his being registered as Advocate on record, a registered
Clark, and

4) he paid a registration fee of 25 rupees.

    According to rule 5-A of the supreme court rules, 1966, an advocate who has been convicted of an
offence involving moral turpitude shall not be eligible for a period of 2 years with effect from the date
he has served out the sentence or has paid the fine imposed on him.

Restrictions on the duties of Senior Advocates of Supreme Court -

According to part- I order IV rule ( 2) (B) of Supreme court rules, 1966 a Senior advocate shall not -

1) file a vakalatnama or act in any Court tribunal in India;

2) appear without an Advocate on record in the court or without a junior in any other Court or Tribunal
in India ;

3) Accept instructions to draw pleading or affidavits, advise on evidence or do any drafting work of and
analogous kind in any Court or Tribunal in India or undertake conveyancing work of any kind whatsoever
but his prohibition shall not extend to Settling any such matter as, aforesaid in consultation with a
junior;

4 ) accept directly from a client any brief for instructions to appear in any Court or Tribunal in India.

Explanation-

 In this order-

(A) acting means filing an appearance or any pleadings in any Court of tribunals in India or any act (other
than pleadings)  required or authorised by law to be done by a party in such Court or Tribunal either in
person or by his recognised agent or buy an advocate or attorney on his behalf.

(B)'Tribunal' includes any authority or Person  legally authorised to take evidence and before whom
advocates are by or under any law for the time being in force , entitled to practice

(C) 'Junior' means an advocate other than a senior advocate.

Origin and Development of contempt law in india

                          The Contempt of Court is a serious matter requiring suitable punishment to uphold the
dignity of the court and administration of justice. The power of court to punish for its contempt was
exercised by the court much before the enactment of statutory provisions relating to the contempt of
Court. The existing law relating to the contempt of court is essentially of English origin and, therefore
the study of the scheme of the contempt law in indigenous systems in India is not of much use for our
parents purpose . The indigenous legal  systems of India was based as they were on the concept of a law
above the sovereign and his Courts and functioning as they did, in times when means of communication
were slow and publication of anything but a small scale well nigh impossible neither possessed nor
needed anything like elaborate system of contempt law such as we have now.
              There are many kinds of contempt of Courts, such as  insult to judges, attacking them, comments
on pending proceedings with a tendency to prejudice trial, obstruction to officers of Courts, witness or
parties abusing the process of Court, breach of Duty by officers of the Courts and scandalizing Judges of
Court.

Meaning and Definition of contempt of Court : 

   According to Corpus Jurist Secondum, The Contempt of Court is disobedience to the Court by acting in
opposition to the authority, justice and dignity thereof. It also signifies a wilful disregard or disobedience
of the Courts order.

According to Halsbury, " Any act done or writing published which is calculated to bring a Court or Judge
into disrepute or lower his authority or to interfere with the due course of justice or the Lawful process
of the Court is contempt of Court."

In the opinion of Oswald -            

                contempt of Court may be constituted by any conduct that trends to bring the authority and
admission of law in to disrespect or disregard to to interfere with or prejudice parties, litigation, their
witness during the litigation.

 Contempt law in ancient India - 

            In the ancient times, primarily it was conceived to be the duty of the King to administer Justice by
hearing litigation and in doing so he was directed to take the assistance of Councillors who were to act
assessors or adviser of the King.  When the king himself could not preside over the deliberations of the
Court by reason of other avocations, it was directed that he should appoint a Judge to act as his
delegate along with Councillors.

           King was fountain of justice, judicial system and code of conduct in all walks of life. Similarly,
whosoever disobeyed decisions or orders or of Court or dictates or Ordinance issued by King was held to
have committed contempt or Avman, or Utkraman, Ullanghan and was punished.  Along with the filing
of the plaint the temporary injunction could be obtained and that was called as Asedhuh an injection
was to be obeyed by the defendant till  he appeared and got it vacated. In Katyayan  Smriti (104 to 105) 
there is a mention that in such circumstances, in case an injection was served on the dependent and it
was disobeyed it was punishable. disobedience of the order of Court was contempt and was  punishable.

Punishment was imposed -

                    For the contempt of court punishment provisions was made, the kinds of punishment that
could be awarded have been mentioned in Narada Smurti (1-47) Smriti Chandrika as  local arrest,
temporary arrest, inhibition from traveling and restraining from doing certain specific acts. The party on
whom such restraint  was imposed shall not break or disobey the same.
A person who willfully violated a legal restraint properly imposed rendered himself liable to be punished
and on the other hand, the person who imposed a legal restraint without proper grounds and under
circumstances in which did not justify its imposition made himself liable to penalty.
 It can be thus safely said that the content of the concept of contempt of court was developed in our
judicial system since thousand years, to the date of India was brought under the foreign law.

Introduction of Contempt law by Britisher in India - 

        The present law relating to contempt of Court is however, based on the English law concept. the
British courts from the earliest legal history assumed the power of contempt of court against those who
obstructed the administration of justice                           
       In England, the Courts of Record have inherent powers to punish the contempt itself and also the
Court subordinate to it since the advent of judicial system. The Superior Court being court of Record has
inherent power to punish contempt of itself and courts subordinate to it. Thus the contempt power of
the Superior Court does not base on any statutory enactment but on the common law principle that the
concept is inherent in every court of record.
       The contempt of law introduced in British India by setting up of the Court of Record through a
charter of 1687 issued by the East India company for the establishment of Mayor's Court at Madras. 
Thereafter charter of 1726 occupied and important places in the development of the administration of
justice in India. Before 1726, there was no uniform judicial system in all three Presidency towns, for
example Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. The Mayor court was reconstituted in 1753 and thereafter also,
it remained the court of Record having power to punish for contempt of Court. Even prior to it,  when
after 1704, the court of Admiralty ceased to sit regularly appeals from the Mayor's Court lay to the
governor in Council. The admiralty court and the governor in Council may also be taken as Court of
record as they heard appeals from the Mayors Court of record.
       In 1774, the  Calcutta  Mayor's Court was replaced by Supreme Court established under the charge
for granted in 1774 in 1st year and software regulating act 1773 in the Madras and Bombay High Court
continued till 1797 when they were superseded by the recorders court.  watch a court of record and it
has power to punish for content there after the British Parliament passes and act in 1893 The recorders
court was a court of record and as such it had power to punish contempt.
  The Indian High Courts Act, 1861 replaced the Supreme Courts of Calcutta and Madras by unification of
Company's Court and Crowns Courts.  The High Court was a Court of record, had a power to punish for
its Contempt.

         The first Contempt of Court Act was enacted in the year 1926 which was repealed and replaced by
the Contempt of Courts Act, 1952. The Act of 1952 made some notable changes, the Act empowered the
court of Judicial commissioner to punish the Contempt of court subordinate to it. It was given to
Jurisdiction to inquire into or try a Contempt of itself or any Court subordinate to it.

However, the Contempt of Court Act, 1952 was not satisfactory as there were certain defects, for
example., The definition of Contempt of Court and defenses available to contemner etc. not given.
There was no provision as to defenses of innocent Publication, fair and accurate report of judicial
proceedings, fair criticism of judicial decisions etc. Besides these defects, even the Act did not contain
any provision as to Contempt liability of the Judges and other persons acting Judicially. The Act did not
contain any provision to the procedure to be followed in the Contempt proceeding and as to appeal in
contempt cases. The above defects in the Act compelled the Government to examine the existing
Contempt law and to remove out the defects therein. Accordingly on 1st April, 1960 a bill was
introduced in Lok Sabha by Shri Bibhuti Bhushan Dasgupta who amend the law relating to Contempt of
Courts. After considering the Bill, the Government realized need to Reform the law relating to Contempt
of Court, and Committee was set up by the Government under the Chairmanship of Shri H.N. Sanyal, 
Additional Solicitor General of India in July 1961. The entire law on the Contempt of  Court was
scrutinized by the Committee and then the Committee submitted its report on 28 February 1963 to Lok
Sabha. The Bill was then referred to the joint select committee of the parliament. The Committee
submitted its report on 20 February 1970. The Bill was substantially altered in the light of the said effect
and thereafter, it enacted  as the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. This act came into force on 24
December 1971 and repealed replaced the earlier Contempt of Court Act, 1952.
                     The provisions of this Act extends to the whole India, provided that it shall not apply to the
State of Jammu and Kashmir, except to the extent to which the provisions of this Act relate to the
content of Supreme Court. This Act is not exhaustive code Section 22 of the Act provides that the
provisions of this act shall be in addition and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law relating
to the Contempt of Courts. In this Act the definition of term, "Contempt of Court" is along with
important defenses. The Act makes provisions in respect of liability of the Judges, Magistrates and other
persons acting Judicially. It makes elaborate provisions in respect of the procedures to be followed in
the Contempt proceeding and also in respect of the Appeal.

Constitutional validity of the contempt of Courts Act, 1971

         Article 129 of the Constitution of India says that the Supreme Court Shall be a a court of record and
shall have all the powers of such a court including the power to punish for contempt of itself.

According to article 215 of the Constitution of India, every High Court Shall be court of record and shall I
have all the powers of such a court including the power to punish for contempt of  itself.

Parliament and the State Legislature both have power to make laws with respect to any of the subject
enumerated in list III( concurrent list ) of the seventh schedule of the Constitution. The parliament has
exclusive power to make laws with respect to any of the matters are subjects enumerated in list -I
(Union list) of the 7th of the Constitution.

          The state legislature has exclusive power to make laws with respect of any of the matter or
subjects enumerated in list II(State list) of the seventh scheduled of the Constitution .

Entry 77 of the list is as follows-

                              Constitution , organization, jurisdiction and powers of the Supreme Court (including
contempt  for such a court ) and the fees taken therein; persons entitled to practise before the supreme
Court.
              Entry15 of list II is as follows " contempt of court but not including contempt of Supreme Court
".

The legislature is fully competent to legislate with respect to competent of court subject only to the
qualification that the legislature cannot  take away the power of the Supreme Court or the High Court to
punish for contempt or vest that power in some other court.           
                    Article 142(2) of the Constitution of India states that the Supreme Court shall have all and
every power to make any order for the purpose of securing the attendance of any person, the discovery
or production of any document, or the investigation or punishment of any contempt of itself

              According to article 372 of  Constitution of India, all the laws in force in the territory of India
immediately before the commencement of this Constitution shall continue in force therein until altered
or repealed or amended by a competent legislature or other competent authority.  That  is why section
22 of the competent of Courts Act 1971,  it makes it clear that the provision of this Act shall be in
Addison to and not in derogation of the provision of any other law relating to contempt of courts.         

              The contempt of Courts Act is not violation of guarantee of equality and article 14 as the
classification of a founded on the intelligible differentia   which distinguisher  persons or  things that are
grouped together from other left out of the group and the differentia has a rational relation to the
object thought to be achieved by the statute  in question is reasonable.     

              As the existing law relating to contempt of court imposes reasonable restrictions within the
meaning of article 19(2) and therefore, it is not violative of the fundamental right to freedom of speech
and expression guarantee by article 19 (1)(2) of the Constitution.

               According to clause 10 of the article 366 the existing law means any law ordinance order bye-
law , rule or regulation passed or made before the commencement of this Constitution by a legislature,
authority or person having power to make such a law.,  ordinance bye-law , rule or regulation.

The contempt of law is not violative of article 21 which provides that no person shall be deprived of his
life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law as the existing procedure
for contempt proceedings have statutory sanction.  Section 10 of the contempt Act,1971,  makes it clear
that every High Court shall have  and exercise the same jurisdiction  powers and authority in accordance
with the same procedure and practice in respect of  contempts of courts subordinate to it as it has and
exercise in respect of contempts of itself. beside this article 225 of the Constitution of India makes
provision for its continuity.

           Hence  on the above grounds, it can be concluded that the contempt of court at 1971 is not
violative of any  provision of the Constitution and it is constitutionally valid
Types of contempt of courts
Section 2(A) of The Contempt of courts Act,1971 , provides that contempt of court means civil
contempt or criminal contempt .

1) Civil contempt of courts,and                   

2) Criminal contempt of Court

           
                       The willful disobedience to the order of court is considered  civil contempt, while the
scandalizing or lowering the authority of the court in the public eye is considered criminal contempt. 
The classification or categorization of contempt of court into Civil and criminal are not closed. There are
several contempt which do not fall in any of them. for example, undue delay in pronouncing the order
by a judge or judge coming late to the court by amount to contempt of court, but they are not covered
exactly by the definition of classification of contempt in the act .

1) Civil contempt-
             According to section 2 (b) of The Contempt of court Act, 1971, civil contempt means "willful
disobedience to any judgement, decree, direction , order, writ or other process of a court or willful
breach of an undertaking given to the Court . "            

       Thus Civil contempt consist of disobeying the orders and process of the court .Civil contempt
involves only the willful disobedience of the courts order or breach of undertaking given to the court. 
The purpose of the proceeding for the Civil contempt is not only to punish the container but also to
exercise enforcement and obedience to the order of the court .

civil contempt serves two purposes -

1) Vindication of the public interest by punishment of contemptuous conduct; and

2) coercion to compel the container to do what the court requires of him.

To constitutes 'civil contempt' the following things are required to be proved :

A) there is disobedience of the order, decree etc. of the court or breach of undertaking given to the
court ;and 

B) the disobedience of Breach Is Wilful.

                     for civil contempt it is necessary that order which has been disobeyed must have been
passed by the court having jurisdiction to pass such order. If the order has been passed without
jurisdiction , it is not binding on the party against which it has been Passed by the and therefore
disobedience of such order will not amount to contempt of Court. The burden to prove that the court
has no jurisdiction to pass the order lies on the person who alleges it.
        When the court orders a person to do something or not to do something, it is incumbent on that
party to comply with that order forthwith. The person disobeying the order of the court will alone be
responsible for the consequence and he cannot be heard to say that he referred the matter to his higher
officer.

         The breach of undertaking given to the court is also taken as contempt, if it is wilful. the basis for
taking the breach of undertaking as contempt of court is that the container by making a false
representation to the court obtains a benefit for himself and if he fails to Honour the undertaking, he
plays a serious fraud on the Court itself and thereby obstructs the course of justice and brings disrepute
to the judicial institution. But the breach of undertaking recorded are forming part of compromise
decree,  would not amount to contempt of court.

         For civil contempt , the disobedience of the order, decree, etc .of the court or breach of
undertaking given to The Court Must Be willful . Willful means the action or state for which compulsion
of ignorance or accident cannot be pleaded as excuse, intentional, deliberate, due to perversity or self-
will. To establish that the disobedience is willful , it is not necessary to show that it is contumacious  in
the sense that there is a direct intention to disobey the order; it is sufficient to show that effective
administration of justice requires some penalty for disobedience to the order of the court ,if it is a more
than casual, accidental or unintentional .

         The reasons of the Civil contempt is willful disobedience to any judgement degree , direction,
order, or writ of a court, and not Mere inaction to give effect to it . The conduct of the alleged
contemner must be willful showing deliberate and conscious disregard of the court order . or a despising
or disdainful attitude towards the verdict of the court .

        If a party who has full knowledge of the order of the court or is conscious and aware of the
consequences and implications of the court's order, ignores it or acts in violation of the courts order, it
must be held  that disobedience is willful.

Whether the disobedience has been wilful or not It is an issue to be decided by the court, taking into
account the facts  the circumstances of the case. 

2) Criminal contempt -
According to Section 2(c) of The Contempt of courts Act, 1971 , "criminal contempt" means the
publication ( whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs ,or by visible representations, or
otherwise)  of any matter or the doing of any other Act whatsoever which -

I) scandalize or tends to scandalize, or lower or tends  to lower, the authority of any Court ;or

II) prejudice or interfere or  tents to interfere with, the due course of any judicial proceeding ; or

III) interface or tends to interfere with or obstructs, tends to obstruct, the administration of justice in
any other manner.

Criminal contempt is a conduct directed against dignity of Court.

Criminal contempt is directed against the power and dignity of the court. The definition of criminal
contempt is wide enough to include any act of a person which would tend to interfere with the
administration of justice or with which would lower to the authority of the court.

           To constitute the criminal contempt it is not necessary that the publication or other acts should
have actually resulted in scandalizing or lowering the authority of the court but it is enough that the act
is likely to result in scandalizing. Thus the offense of contempt is complete by mere attempt and does
not depend on actual deflection of Justice .

          'Scandalize' connotes to speak falsely, or maliciously, to bring into approach ,dishonor, disgrace, to
offend the feelings, conscious or property of an action. ' scandalize' also means to offend a moral
feeling, and to make a public scandal of, to utter false or malicious reports of a person's conduct,
slander, or to  bring same or discredit or to disgrace . We can say that the disgraceful word scandalize
means the defamatory , derogatory, false malicious disgraceful statements regarding the persons as
Judges.

           It is for the court to decide whether or not the publication or act is likely to scandalize or lower the
authority of the court or interfere with due course of any judicial proceeding for administration of
justice.

The publication act will be taken as criminal contempt, if it has resulted in scandalizing the authority of
court or interference with the due course of judicial proceedings or interfering the administration of
justice in any matter.

             The word ' Publication ' was given very wide meaning . The publication may be by words written
or spoken by sign's or by visible representations or otherwise of any matter. but in the Act it is not clear
as to whether the publication should be taken to mean Publication to the general public or any kind of
Publication.

Scandalizing the court means any hostile criticism of the judge ; any Personal attack on him unconnected
with the office he holds, is dealt with under the ordinary rules of Slender and libel. The criticism can
form the basis for committal of contempt of court  only if it is made against the judge in exercise of his
judicial function.

The publication which prejudice or interferes with or tends to interfere with, the due course of any
judicial proceeding is taken as contempt of court . Whenever the publication or any other act unduly
influences the result of a litigation it is treated as criminal contempt of court and a punished  therefore .

          If the parties to a pending proceeding are abused and vilified and the words are likely to cause
prejudice to the case, it will amount to contempt of court.

         The publication of doing of any other act which interferes  or tend to interfere with or obstructs or
tend to obstruct the  administration of justice in any of other manner is also taken as contempt of court .
An Advocate is an officer of the court and hence undue interference with the Advocate in the discharge
of his professional functions amount to contempt of court .

         Any conduct by which course or Justice is prevented either by a party or a stranger is a contempt of
court. Any person who interfere or prevent other person from coming to the stream of justice is he
liable for contempt of Court.  The Court must be very careful in analyzing the facts and circumstances of
the case for determining whether or not the action taken by a person amounts to interfere with the
course of Justice.

Witnesses are also integral part of the judicial process and they must have freedom to perform their
duties and so interference with performance of their duties is taken as contempt of Court

         Abuse of the process of court calculated to hamper the due course hamper of judicial proceedings
or the administration of Justice amounts to contempt of court.

Punishment for Contempt of Court.

According to Section 12 of The Contempt of courts Act ,1971, the following are the punishments for the
Contempt of court.

(1) Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act or in any other law, a contempt of court may be
punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may
extend to two thousand rupees, or with both.

Provided that the accused may be discharged or the punishment awarded may be remitted on apology
being made to the satisfaction of the court.

Explanation –

An apology shall not be rejected merely on the ground that it is qualified or conditional if the accused
makes it bona fide.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, no court shall impose a
sentence in excess of that specified in sub section for any contempt either in respect of itself or of a
court subordinate to it.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, where a person is found guilty of a civil
contempt, the court, if it considers that a fine will not meet the ends of justice and that a sentence of
imprisonment is necessary shall, instead of sentencing him to simple imprisonment, direct that the he
be detained in a civil prison for such period not exceeding six months as it may think fit.

(4) Where the person found guilty of contempt of court in respect of any undertaking given to a court is
a company, every person who, at the time the contempt was committed, was in charge of, and was
responsible to, the company for the conduct of business of the company, as well as the company, shall
be deemed to be guilty of the contempt and the punishment may be enforced, with the leave of the
court, by the detention in civil prison of each such person.
Provided that nothing contained in this sub section shall render any such person liable to such
punishment if he proves that the contempt was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised
all due diligence to prevent its commission.

(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub section (4) where the contempt of court referred to
therein has been committed by a company and it is provided that the contempt has been committed
with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manger,
secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager , secretary or other officer shall also
be deemed to be guilty of the be contempt and the punishment may be enforced, with the leave of the
court, by the detention in civil prison of such director, manager, secretary or other officer.

Explanation –

For the purpose of sub sections (4) and (5)-

(a) “Company ” means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals, and

(b) “Director” in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.

S.13 Contempt not punishable in certain cases

According to Section 13 of contempt of courts Act 1971, notwithstanding anything contained in any law
for the time being in force no court shall be impose a sentence under this act for a Contempt of court
unless it is satisfied that the contempt is of such nature that it substantially interference or tends 
substantially to interfere with the due course of justice.

S.20 Limitation for actions for contempt

No court shall initiate any proceedings if contempt, either on its own motion or otherwise, after the
expiry of a period of one year from the date on which the contempt is alleged to have been committed.

Contempt of court : Defences in Criminal Contempt

1) Introduction  : 
          Any act done or writing published calculated to bring a court or a Judge of the Court into Contempt
or lower his authority, is one class of contempt further , an act done or writing published calculated to
obstruct or interfere with due course of the courts, is another class of the Contempt of Court.  
          The purpose of the Contempt jurisdiction of court is, therefore, to uphold the majesty and dignity
of the law Courts and the image of such majesty in the minds of the public cannot be allowed to be
destroyed. An action for contempt is not for the purpose of placing judges in a position of immunity
from criticism but is aimed at protection of the freedom of individual and the orderly and equal
administration of laws.  Contempt of Court Act 1971, Section 3 to 7 provides for defenses to the persons
charged with Criminal Contempt.    

2) Meaning Contempt of Court :

     Halsbury Laws of England defines Contempt of Court as , " Any act done or writing published which
calculated to bring a court or Judge into contempt or lowering authority or inference with due course or
lawful process of the court is the contempt of Court. 
According to Oswald " Contempt of Court may be said to be constituted by any conduct that tends to
bring the authority and administration of law into disrespect or disregard or to interfere with or
prejudice parties to litigation or their witnesses during the litigation.
      The Contempt of Court cannot be defined exhaustively. According Section 2(a) of the Contempt of
Court Act, 1971 Contempt of Courts  means, Civil Contempt or Criminal Contempt.
3) Criminal Contempt :
        According to Section 2(c) of the Contempt of Court Act, 1971  “Criminal contempt” means the
publication whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise
of any matter or the doing of any other act whatsoever which -

                (i) Scandalizes or tends to scandalize, or lowers or tends to lower the authority of, any court, or
               (ii) Prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with the due course of any judicial proceeding ,
or           (iii) Interferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs or tends to obstruct, the administration of
justice.
        The definition of Criminal Contempt is wide enough to include any act of person which would tend
to interfere with administration of justice or which would lower the authority of the court.  Doctrine
mens rea is not applicable and is not essential ingredient of the Criminal Contempt.
4) Defences In Criminal Contempt :
    Section 3 to 7 of the contempt of Court Act 1971, provides for defences to the person charged with
criminal contempt are as follows :
I) Innocent publication and distribution of matter  (Section 4)
               (1)  A person shall not be guilty of contempt of court on the ground that he has published
whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representations, or otherwise any matter
which interferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs or tends to obstruct, the course of justice in
connection with criminal proceeding pending at that time of publication, if at that time he had no
reasonable grounds for believing that the proceeding was pending.
               (2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act or any other law for the time
being in force, the publication of any such matter as is mentioned in sub-section (1) in connection with
criminal proceeding which is not pending at the time of publication shall not be deemed to constitute
contempt of court.
               (3) A person shall not be guilty of contempt of court on the ground that he has distributed a
publication containing any such matter as is mentioned in sub-section (1), if at the time of distribution
he had no reasonable grounds for believing that it contained or was likely to contain any such matter as
aforesaid:
       Provided that this sub-section shall not apply in respect of the distribution of  —

           (i) any publication which is a book or paper printed or published otherwise than in conformity
with the rules contained in section 3 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867;
           (ii) any publication which is a newspaper published otherwise than in conformity with the rules
contained in Section 5 of the said Act.
 Explanation —
            For the purposes of this section, a judicial proceeding —
            (a) is said to be pending —     
            (A) in the case of a civil proceeding, when it is instituted by the filing of a plaint or
otherwise;           
          (B) in the case of a criminal proceeding under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, or any other
law  —
           (i) where it relates to the commission of an offence, when the charge-sheet or challan is filed, or
when the court issues summons or warrant, as the case may be, against the accused, and
           (ii) in any other case, when the court takes cognizance of the matter to which the proceeding
relates, and in the case of a civil or criminal proceeding, shall be deemed to continue to be pending until
it is heard and finally decided, that is to say, in a case where an appeal or revision is competent, until the
appeal or revision is heard and finally decided or, where no appeal or revision is preferred, until the
period of limitation prescribed for such appeal or revision has expired;
           (iii) which has been heard and finally decided shall not be deemed to be pending merely by reason
of the fact that proceedings for the execution of the decree, order or sentence passed therein are
pending.
II) Fair and accurate report of judicial proceeding not contempt (Section 4)
               Subject to the provisions contained In section 7, a person shall not be guilty of contempt of
court for publishing a fair and accurate report of a judicial proceeding or any state thereof.
III) Fair criticism of judicial act not contempt  (Section 5) 
       A person shall not be guilty of contempt of court for publishing any fair comment on the merits of
any case which has been heard and finally decided.
IV) Bona fide Complaint against presiding officers of subordinate courts (Section 6)
         A person shall not be guilty of contempt of court in respect of any statement made by him in good
faith concerning the presiding officer or any subordinate court to –
              (a) Any other subordinate court, or
              (b) The High court to which it is subordinate.
Explanation – In this section, ”subordinate court” means any court subordinate to a High court.
V) Publication of information relating to proceeding in chambers or in camera not contempt except in
certain cases (Section 7)
       (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, a person shall not be guilty of contempt of court
for publishing a fair and accurate report of a judicial proceedings before any court sitting in chambers or
in camera except in the following cases, that is to say -
               (a) Where the publication is contrary to the provisions of any enactment for the time being in
force.
               (b) Where the court, on grounds of public policy or in exercise of any power vested in it,
expressly prohibits the publication of all information relating to the proceeding or of information of the
description which is published.
               (c) Where the court sits in chambers or in camera for reason connected with public order or the
security of the State, the publication of information relating to those proceedings,
               (d) Where the information relates to secret process, discovery or invention which is an issue in
the proceedings.
        (2) Without prejudice to the provisions contained in sub section (1) a person shall not be guilty of
contempt of court for publishing the text or a fair and accurate summary of the whole, or any part, of an
order made by a court sitting in chambers or in camera, unless the court has expressly prohibited the
publication thereof on grounds of public policy, or for reasons connected with public order or the
security of the State, or on the ground that it contains information relating to secret process, discovery
or invention, or in exercise of any power vested on it.    
    VI) Contempt not punishable in certain cases (Section 13) 
              Section 13 of the Contempt of Court Act, 1971 provides that notwithstanding anything
contained in any law for the time being in force no court shall impose a sentence under this Act for a
contempt of court unless it is satisfied that the contempt is of such a nature that it substantially
interferes, or tends substantially to interfere with the due course of justice.
    In order to constitute Criminal Contempt, it is not necessary that there should be an actual
interference with the administration of justice, but it is sufficient if the publication or act complained of
is likely top interfere with the administration of justice.   

Contempt of Courts by Lawyers

                The court has power to punish every person,  body or authority found guilty of Contempt of
Court. The Contempt jurisdiction is very wide.
                The lawyer has to discharge certain duties towards the Court. But sometimes  because of the
nature of duties, the lawyers and judges may get into heated dialogue which may result in contempt of
court.
                Contempt by lawyers is the most pertinent problem before the Courts these days. There are
several instances of misconduct, which have been taken as contempt of Court. For example, using
insulting language against the judge,  making scandalous allegations against a judge, suppressing the
facts to obtain favorable order, allegation of partiality and and unfairness against the judge, etc. An
advocate who advises his clients to disobey the Court is. Also held liable for contempt Courts. In Bar
Council election attacking judiciary is also taken, at contempt of court if a council, advocate refuses to 
answer the question of the Court, is also liable for the contempt of court.
                  In Re Ajay Kumar Pandey,  A.I.R. 1998 S.C.3299 the Supreme Court has held that an advocate
using intemperate language and casting unwarranted aspersion (false report) on various judicial officers
is equality of gross contempt of court for not getting expected results. Court awarded punishment of
sentence to 4 months simple imprisonment and fine Rs.1000 /-
                 Supreme Court in this case warned that only because a lawyers appear as a party in Person, he
does not get a license to submit content of court , by intimidating  the judges or scandalizing the Court.
An Advocate can use language  either in pleading or during argument which is either intemperate or
parliamentary and which has tendency to interfere in the administration of justice and undermine the
dignity of the Court.
In another case Re Vijay Chandra Mishra A.I.R., 1995, SC 2348
                    Supreme Court held that to resent (to show anger) the question asked by the judge to be
disrespectful to him, to question is authority, to ask question, to shout at him, to threaten him with
transfer and impeachment, to use insulting language, to abuse him to dictate order, such acts of
advocate tends to prevent court from performing its Duty to administer the justice and hence, are
instances of contempt of court.
Narain Das vs Government of Madhya Pradesh  AIR 1974 SC 1252.
            It has been held that if a wrong or misleading statement is deliberately and willfully made by the
party to a litigation with a view to obtain a favourable order, it would prejudice or interfere with the due
course of the judicial proceedings and thus amount to contempt.
In another case the Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay vs Shrimati Annattee Remond Uttanwala
(1987) Cr LJ 1038.
            An advocate was Personally engaged in earlier litigation involving a particular property and which
has resulted in an eviction order against the client of the Advocate, who suppressed these fact in the
pleading in subsequent proceeding brought by the wife of his client in respect of the same property and
obtained an interim  injunction restraining the Municipal Corporation from interfering with the
possession of the wife. Bombay High Court held the Advocate guilty of contempt .
         Justice Sawant of the Bombay High Court delivering the judgement observed that, "the contemner
by suppressing the facts, had fraudulently obtained from the Courts favorable Orders and had thus
prejudiced and interfered with the due course of the judicial proceeding and had also obstructed the
administration of justice. That a false statement made to the court with a view to obtain a favorable
order amounts to  contempt of the Court.
       Whether boycott of  Court or Strike by lawyers amount to Contempt of Court is still a controversial
issue.
Tarini Mohan of pleaders, A.I.R. 1923, Cal 212 :
         In this old decided case Calcutta High Court held that the Bombay Council has no power to call
strike of Lawyers and such call amount to contempt of court. It was observed that boycotting the Court,
the advocates violets his duties not only towards the client but also towards the court. (See also...Duties
of an Advocate towards a client)
         Many great jurist India writing, expressed their view that there is no justification for the lawyers to
boycott the Court are to participate. It is taken as professional misconduct.