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Panaji, 26th November, 2018 (Agrahayana 5, 1940)

SERIES I No. 34

Reg. No. G-2/RNP/GOA/32/2018-20

RNI No. GOAENG/2002/6410

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

GOVERNMENT OF GOA

Department of Law & Judiciary

Law (Establishment) Division

Notification

12/8/2015-LD (Estt.) (P.F.I)/2168

The following Notification No. P. 3603/2018

dated 24-10-2018 which has been issued by

the High Court of Judicature at Bombay,

Appellate Side and Original Side, is hereby

published for general information of the

public.

By order and in the name of the Governor

of Goa.

Diwan N. Rane, Under Secretary (Law-Estt.)

(Link).

Porvorim, 23rd November, 2018.

__________

The High Court of Judicature at Bombay

Appellate Side and Original Side

Notification

No. P.3603/2018.— In exercise of powers

conferred under Section 16(2) and 34(1) of

the Advocates Act, 1961 (Central Act 25 of

1961) and pursuant to the directions of the

Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in its decision

Suggestions are welcomed on e-mail: dir–[email protected]

EXTRAORDINARY

No. 4

in Indira Jaisingh V Supreme Court of India”

[2018 (3) BCR 517], the High Court of Bombay

makes the following rules regarding

designation of an Advocate as a Senior

Advocate, superseding the existing Rules

framed under section 16(2) of the Advocates

Act, 1961, contained in Schedule VI of the

Bombay High Court Appellate Side Rules,

1960 and in Rule 24 of the Bombay High Court

Original Side Rules, 1980.

Table of Contents

Rules Framed Under Section 16(2) of

The Advocates Act, 1961

1. Short title and Commencement

2. Definitions

3. Permanent Committee

4. Designation as a Senior Advocate

5. Procedure for designation of Senior Advocates

6. Norms and Guidelines

7. Review and Recall

8. Interpretation

9. Repeal and Savings

Form-I: Form of Proposal

Form-II: Proforma of Biodata

General Instructions for Completing The

Application Form for Designation as a

Senior Advocate

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SERIES I No. 34

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26TH NOVEMBER, 2018

2208

Rules Framed Under Section 16(2) of

The Advocates Act, 1961

1. Short title and Commencement.— (a)

These Rules shall be called the Bombay High

Court (Designation of Senior Advocates) Rules,

2018.

(b) These Rules shall come into force on

the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Definitions.— In these Rules, unless the

context otherwise requires,

(a) “Chief Justice” means the Chief

Justice of High Court of Bombay.

(b) “High Court” means the High Court

of Bombay.

(c)

“Permanent

Committee

for

Designation of Senior Advocates” means

the committee headed by the Hon’ble the

Chief Justice and consists of the two most

senior Judges of the High Court, the

learned Advocate-General and one

nominated member of the Bar.

(d) “Permanent Secretariat” means the

Secretariat headed by the Registrar-

-General of the High Court, and of which

the Registrar (Judicial-I) of the High Court

shall be the Secretary.

(e) “Senior Advocate” means Advocate

designated as Senior Advocate under

Section 16(2) of the Advocates Act, 1961.

(f) “Stakeholder” means and includes

every person directly concerned with or

affected by the designation of any Advocate

as a Senior Advocate of the High Court.

3. Permanent Committee.— (a) All matters

relating to designation of Senior Advocates

in the Bombay High Court shall be dealt with

by a Permanent Committee to be known as

the Permanent Committee for Designation of

Senior Advocates.

(b) The composition of the Permanent

Committee shall be as defined in Rule 2(c)

above.

assisted by a Permanent Secretariat as defined

in Rule 2(d) above.

(d) The Permanent Committee will meet at

least twice in each calendar year.

4. Designation as a Senior Advocate.— An

Advocate who has actively and actually

practiced for not less than 10 years in the

Bombay High Court may be considered for

being designated as Senior Advocate either—

(a) On a written recommendation from the

Chief Justice or any permanent Judge of the

High Court of Bombay to the Permanent

Secretariat, that, in the opinion of the Chief

Justice, or of such other permanent Judge,

by virtue of the advocate’s ability, experience,

standing at the Bar, or special knowledge of,

or experience in law, the advocate is

deserving of such designation; or

(b) On a proposal for designation as a

Senior Advocate by two previously designated

Senior Advocates of the Bombay High Court;

endorsed by two designated Senior Advocates

of the Bombay High Court.

5. Procedure for designation of Senior

Advocates.— (a) Every proposal/application

for designation as a Senior Advocate shall be

submitted in the month of June and

December of each year.

(b) Every proposal/recommendation for

designation as a Senior Advocate shall be in

the Form I appended to these rules.

accompanied by an application in Form II

appended to these rules.

(d) No Senior Advocate shall propose the

names of more than two advocates for

designation in one calendar year.

(e)

Every

advocate

preferring

application for designation as a Senior

Advocate, shall submit his application as per

Form II, endorsed by two designated Senior

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26TH NOVEMBER, 2018

2209

Advocates as per Form I appended to these

rules.

(f) Along with the proposal and application

the Advocate shall append his certificate that

he has not applied to any other High Court

for being designated as a Senior Advocate

and that his application has not been rejected

by the High Court within a period of two

years prior to the date of the proposal or

application.

(g) All proposals and applications for

Designation of an advocate as a Senior

Advocate shall be submitted to the Permanent

Secretariat, which shall scrutinize the

proposals and applications received as per

directions and guidelines of the Permanent

Committee.

(h) The Permanent Secretariat on scrutiny

of the proposals so received will intimate the

concerned Advocate of any irregularity, who

shall remove the same within 15 days from

the receipt of such intimation.

(i) On receipt of all applications/proposals/

/recommendations the Permanent Secretariat

shall compile the relevant data and

information with regard to the reputation,

conduct, integrity of the Advocate(s)

concerned induding his/her participation in

pro-bono work if any; reported judgments of

cases in which he/she has appeared; the

number of such judgments for the last five

years; and such other information as the

Permanent Committee may think necessary.

This data will be gathered by the Permanent

Secretariat from such source or sources as

the Permanent Committee may direct, and is

not restricted to data submitted by the

advocate-candidate.

(j) The Permanent Secretariat shall publish

the proposal of designation of the Advocate

on the official website of the Bombay High

Court, inviting suggestions and views of the

members of the Bar and other stakeholders

within 30 days from the date of such

publication.

(k) The suggestions/views shall be in

writing and shall bear the name and full

address of the sender and shall be addressed

to the Permanent Secretariat of the High

Court. Anonymous petitions/representations/

views shall not be entertained. The

suggestions/views shall be submitted only in

physical form in writing and submission of

such views/suggestions by any other mode

shall not be entertained.

(l) On completion of above procedure, the

Permanent Secretariat shall prepare and

submit a report to the Permanent Committee

regarding every proposal/application for

designation. The Permanent Secretariat shall

endeavour to prepare such report within 90

days of the last date for receipt of views/

/suggestions.

(m) The Permanent Committee will examine

each proposal/application for designation of

Senior Advocate in the light of data provided

by the Secretariat of the Permanent

Committee

and

the

suggestions/

/views of the members of the Bar and other

stakeholders.

(n) The Permanent Committee shall interact

with the Advocate concerned to make an

overall

assessment.

The

Permanent

Committee will make its overall assessment

on the basis of a point-based format indicated

below:

Sr. No.

Matter

Points

1. Number of years of practice of

20 points

the Applicant Advocate from

the date of enrollment.

[10 points for 10-20 years of

practice; 20 points for practice

beyond 20 year]

2. Judgments (reported and

40 points

unreported) which indicate the

legal formulations advanced by

the Advocate concerned in the

course of the proceedings of the

case; pro bono work done by the

Advocate concerned; domain

expertise of the applicant advocate

in various branches of law, such

as Constitutional Law, Inter-

-State Water Disputes, Criminal

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Law, Arbitration Law, Corporate

Law, Family Law, Human Rights,

Public Interest Litigation,

International Law, Law relating

to women, etc.

3. Publications by the Advocate.

15 points

4. Test of personality & suitability

25 points

on the basis of interaction.

(o) If the Permanent Committee defers any

proposal/applications for designation as a

Senior Advocate, such proposal/application

shall not be considered until the expiry of

one year from the date of deferment.

(p) After completing the assessment the

Permanent Committee shall place the

proposals/recommendations/applications for

designation, before the Full Court for

consideration, along with its recommen-

dations.

(i) The Full Court will have due regard

to the recommendations of the Permanent

Committee.

(ii) At any Full Court meeting, a Judge

may abstain from participating in the

proceedings with respect to any proposal.

(iii) In the Full Court meeting convened

for this purpose, voting by secret ballot will

not normally be resorted to by the Full

Court except when so unavoidable. In the

event of a secret ballot, the decisions will

be by majority of the Judges present and

actually voting.

(q) A proposal/application not approved by

the Full Court may be reviewed/reconsidered

only after the expiry of two years from the

date on which proposal/application was not

accepted by the Full Court and then only on

receipt of a fresh proposal/application for

designation of Senior Advocate.

(r) The name of candidates who have been

accepted for designation by the Full Court

shall be designated as Senior Advocates.

(s) The final decision of the Full Court will

be communicated to each candidate

individually.

6. Norms and Guidelines.— The following

norms and guidelines will govern all

recommendations and proposals/applications

for designation as a Senior Advocate:

(a) Every Advocate-candidate shall be

enrolled with the Bar Council of

Maharashtra and Goa.

(b) The Advocate should have not less

than ten years’ standing as an advocate of

the Bombay High Court.

competent Court or against whom a charge

has been framed for an offence involving

moral turpitude or for contempt of court

shall not be eligible for consideration.

(d) The Advocate must be found

deserving of designation as Senior

Advocate by virtue of his/her ability,

integrity, standing at the Bar or special

knowledge or experience in law.

(e) Upon designation of an Advocate as

Senior Advocate, he or she shall also

appear gratis and pro bono in legal aid

cases as and when called upon by the

Court.

(f) An Advocate who has done legal aid

work shall be given due weightage.

(g) On designation as a Senior Advocate,

the advocate concerned will not—

(i) Draft or sign pleadings in any Court.

(ii) Appear unless assisted by another

Advocate.

(iii) Directly give consultation to any

litigant.

(iv) Appear for mentioning any matter

to the Court nor seek an adjournment in

any Court.

(h) Canvassing in any form by the

Advocate concerned or by the proposer or

seconder shall result in the immediate

disqualification of the proposal/application

of the advocate concerned.

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7. Review and Recall.— (a) If it is found

that any Senior Advocate has—

(i) committed professional misconduct;

(ii) shown intemperate behaviour either

inside or outside the Court; or

(iii) been found invariably negligent in

discharge of professional duties; or

(iv) been found by the Bar Council of

India or Bar Council of Maharashtra and

Goa or the Bar Council of any other State

to have committed professional or other

misconduct; or

(v) been convicted of an offence

involving moral turpitude or for Contempt

of the Court; or

(vi) for any other reason lost the privilege

to be a Senior Advocate,

then, for anyone or more of the foregoing

reasons, the name of the Senior Advocate will

be placed before the Chief Justice for

considering the withdrawal of designation of

Senior Advocate.

(b) On being satisfied that the matter

should be further considered, the Chief

Justice shall refer the issue to the Permanent

Committee. The Permanent Committee shall

give an opportunity to the Senior Advocate

to plead his/her case including a personal

hearing

and

thereafter

submit

its

recommendation to the Chief Justice no later

than six months from the date of reference to

the Committee. The Committee will be free

to evolve its own procedure.

recommends withdrawal of designation as

Senior Advocate, the Chief Justice shall place

the report with the recommendation of the

Committee at the next Full Court meeting for

its consideration.

(d) If a majority of Judges present at the

meeting is of the view that the Senior

Advocate has forfeited his/her privilege, the

Full Court shall recall his/her designation as

a Senior Advocate.

(e) The Registrar General shall notify the

decision to the Advocate and to the Bar

Council of Maharashtra and Goa who shall

delete the name from the list of Senior

Advocates maintained by the Bar Council.

(f) Nothing contained in these rules shall

stand in the way of an Advocate who has

been designated by the High Court of Bombay

as a Senior Advocate from submitting an

application to withdraw or recall his/her

designation as a Senior Advocate. In the event

of such an application addressed to the

Permanent Secretariat being submitted, the

Permanent Secretariat shall place it before

the Chief Justice for appropriate orders

thereon.

8. Interpretation.— (a) All questions

relating to the interpretation of these rules

shall be referred to the Chief Justice whose

decision thereon shall be final.

9. Repeal and Savings.— (a) All previous

Rules in respect to the subject matter covered

by these Rules, including the Guidelines for

Designating an Advocate as Senior Advocate,

as made by the High Court of Bombay with

all amendments/modifications, are hereby

repealed. However, this repeal shall not, by

itself, invalidate the actions taken under the

repealed Rules/Guidelines.

________

FORM I

Form of Proposal/Endorsement

(required from two previously designated

Senior Advocates)

Date:

The Honourable the Chief Justice

and the Judges of the

High Court of Judicature at Bombay

I,............................. (name of Senior Advocate)

propose Shri/Smt./Kumari..................................... (name

of Advocate proposed), who was enrolled as an

advocate by the Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa

on...................... and continues to be on the Roll of

Advocates maintained by the said Bar Council, and

who has been practicing in this Court for the last

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......................... years, for being designated as a Senior Advocate of this High Court, as in my opinion, by

virtue of his/her ability, experience and standing at the Bar, he/she is deserving of such distinction.

The reasons why, according to me, the advocate is worthy of being designated as a Senior Advocate

are as follows:

...............................................................................

Dated this .................. day of ..................... 20

(Signature of the Senior Advocate)

________

CONSENT

I hereby give my consent to be designated as Senior Advocate,

Dated this .................. day of ..................... 20

(Signature of the Advocate concerned)

__________

FORM II

Proforma of Biodata

1. Name of Applicant

2. Date of birth

3. Permanent Residential Address

4. Office Address

5. Educational Qualifications

6. Date of Enrolment

7. Bar Council with which enrolled

8. Bar Council Enrolment number

9. Names of Lawyers’ Associations of which the applicant is a member

10. Number of years of practice in the Bombay High Court

11. Areas of specialization, if any

12. Name of lawyer, if any, in whose chambers the applicant was a junior; duration or period for which

the applicant was a junior.

13. Names of any juniors, if any, attached to the applicant’s own chambers, and the duration or period

for each.

14. Whether empanelled or holding any office under the State or Central Government.

15. Nature of practice (Civil, Criminal, Constitutional, Taxation, Labour, Company, Service etc).

16. Any particular field of law in which Applicant has specialization/domain expertise, special knowledge

or special experience (such as Constitutional law, Inter-State Water Disputes, Criminal law, Arbitration

law, Corporate law, Family law, Human Rights, Public Interest Litigation, International law, law

relating to women, etc.).

17. Number of Reported Judgments in matters in which the applicant appeared (provide list of citations).

18. Reference to at least ten reported judgments in cases in which the applicant has appeared as arguing

Counsel and contributed to the development of law, and which indicate the legal formulations

advanced by the applicant.

19. Details of pro bono work/legal aid work during last five years.

Passport

size

Photograph

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20. Details of the position, if any, held in Bar Council/Bar Association.

21. Details of any lectures delivered.

22. Details of any publications authored or co-authored by the Applicant.

23. Whether the Applicant had applied earlier.

24. Whether the Permanent Committee has deferred applicant’s proposal/application for designation as

Senior Advocate earlier? If so to provide details thereof.

25. Whether the applicant’s name was earlier proposed for being designated as Senior Advocate of the

Bombay High Court or any other High Court or of the Supreme Court of India. If so, the decision

thereon, with its date.

Signature of the Advocate concerned

Date:

_________

General Instructions for Completing the Application Form for designation as a Senior Advocate

1. Every Application, in the prescribed format, shall be made in English, typed/printed with font size

(Arial, 12pt) in double spacing on a single side of white A4-Size paper with top and left margins of

1.5 inches.

2. All documents annexed to the application should be accompanied by a detailed index containing

the details thereof.

3. Documents accompanying the application should be listed and numbered consecutively in the

index.

4. The entire compilation will have running page

numbering IN THE TOP RIGHT CORNER in Arial

14pt boldface.

5. Name of the Applicant must tally with his/her name as mentioned in his/her enrolment certificate.

Abbreviated names are not to be used.

6. The completed Application with its index should be presented in the form of a paper book with

binding or stitching on the left side. Spiral or comb binding is not to be used.

7. All photocopies should be legible and true copies of their respective originals.

8. Two copies of the Application paper book, identical in every respect and particular, are to be

submitted.

9. An original colour passport-sized photograph against a plan background is to be pasted on each

copy of the Application.

High Court of Judicature at Bombay

I/c. Registrar General

Date: 24th October, 2018.

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