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EXTRAORDINARY
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PART II—Section 2
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PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
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No. 15] NEW DELHI, TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2023/SRAVANA 10, 1945 (SAKA)
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Separate paging is given to this Part in order that it may be filed as a separate compilation.
RAJYA SABHA
————
The following Bill has been introduced in the Rajya Sabha on the 1st August, 2023:—
BILL NO. LIV OF 2023
A Bill further to amend the Advocates Act, 1961.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventy-fourth Year of the Republic of India as
follows:—
1. (1) This Act may be called the Advocates (Amendment) Act, 2023. Short title and
commencement.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification
in the Official Gazette, appoint.
25 of 1961. 2. After section 45 of the Advocates Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Insertion of new
Act), the following section shall be inserted, namely:— section 45A.
‘45A. (1) Every High Court, District Judge, Sessions Judge, District Magistrate, Power to
and every Revenue-officer, not being below the rank of a Collector of a district (each as frame and
publish lists of
regards their or his own Court and the Courts, if any, subordinate thereto) may frame
touts.
and publish lists of persons proved to their or his satisfaction, or to the satisfaction of
any subordinate Court as provided in sub-section (3) by evidence of general repute or
otherwise, habitually to act as touts, and may, from time to time, alter and amend such
lists.2 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PART II—
Explanation.—The passing of a resolution, declaring any person to be or not to
be a tout, by a majority of the members present at a meeting, specially convened for the
purpose, of an association of persons entitled to practice as legal practitioners in any
Court or revenue-office, shall be evidence of the general repute of such person for the
purposes of this sub-section.
(2) No person's name shall be included in any such list until he shall have had an
opportunity of showing cause against such inclusion.
(3) Any authority empowered under sub-section (1) to frame and publish a list
of touts may send to any Court subordinate to such authority the names of any
persons alleged or suspected to be touts, and order that Court to hold an inquiry in
regard to such persons; and the subordinate Court shall thereupon hold an inquiry
into the conduct of such persons and, after giving each such person an opportunity of
showing cause as provided in sub-section (2), shall report to the authority which has
ordered the inquiry the name of each such person who has been proved to the
satisfaction of the subordinate Court to be a tout; and that authority may include the
name of any such person in the list of touts framed and published by that authority:
Provided that such authority shall hear any such person who, before his name
has been so included, appears before it and desires to be heard.
(4) A copy of every such list shall be kept hung up in every Court to which the
same relates.
(5) The Court or Judge may, by general or special order, exclude from the precincts
of the Court any person whose name is included in any such list.
(6) Any person who acts as a tout whilst his name is included in any such list
shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to three months, or with fine
which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.
(7) For the purposes of this section,—
(a) "Judge" means the presiding judicial officer in every Civil and Criminal
Court, by whatever title he is designated;
(b) "subordinate Court" means all Courts subordinate to the High Court,
including Courts of Small Causes established under any law for the time being in
force;
(c) "revenue-office" includes all Courts (other than Civil Courts) trying
suits under any law for the time being in force relating to landholders and their
tenants or agents;
(d) "tout" means a person—
(i) who procures, in consideration of any remuneration moving from
any legal practitioner, the employment of the legal practitioner in any legal
business; or who proposes to any legal practitioner or to any person
interested in any legal business to procure, in consideration of any
remuneration moving from either of them, the employment of the legal
practitioner in such business; or
(ii) who for the purposes of such procurement frequents the
precincts of Civil or Criminal Courts or of revenue-offices, or railway
stations, landing stages, lodging places or other places of public resort.’.
Amendment 3. In section 50 of the principal Act, after sub-section (5), the following sub-section
of section 50. shall be inserted, namely:—
“(6) On the date on which section 45A of the Advocates Act, 1961 comes into 25 of 1961.
force, sections 1, 3 and 36 of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 shall stand repealed.”. 18 of 1879.SEC. 2] THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY 3
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS
The Advocates Act, 1961 (25 of 1961) was enacted to amend and consolidate the
law relating to the legal practitioners and to provide for the constitution of Bar Councils
and an All-India Bar.
2. Before independence, the Indian High Courts Act, 1861 passed by the British
Parliament enabled the Crown to establish High Courts in India by Letters Patent and
these Letters Patent authorised and empowered the High Courts to make rules for
enrolment of advocates and attorneys. The Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 (18 of 1879)
was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to legal practitioners in certain
Provinces, and to empower the Provincial Government of every other Province to extend
thereto such portions of this Act as such Government may think fit. Legal practitioners
were governed by the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879, the Bombay Pleaders Act, 1920
(17 of 1920) and the Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926 (38 of 1926).
3. After independence, in line with the need for change in Judicial Administration
in India, the Law Commission was assigned the job of preparing a report on the Reforms
of Judicial Administration. The All-India Bar Committee also went into detail of the
matter and made its recommendations in 1953. A comprehensive the Advocates
Act, 1961was enacted after taking into account the recommendations of the All-India
Bar Committee and the Law Commission on the subject of Reforms of Judicial
Administration insofar as the recommendations related to the Bar and to legal education.
4. All the aspects which are dealt with in the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 are
already covered under the Advocates Act, 1961 except the matter relating to 'touts'. All
sections of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879, except sections 1, 3 and 36 have been
repealed vide clause (a) of sub-section (5) of section 50 of the Advocates Act, 1961.
The Law Commission of India in its Report No. 249 titled 'Obsolete Laws: Warranting
Immediate Repeal (Second Interim Report)' has also recommended for repealing of the
Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 after making suitable amendments to the Advocates
Act, 1961.
5. In keeping with the Government's policy of repealing all obsolete laws or
pre-independence Acts which have lost their utility, the Government of India in
consultation with the Bar Council of India has decided to repeal the Legal Practitioners
Act, 1879 and to amend the Advocates Act, 1961 by incorporating the provisions of
section 36 of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 in the Advocates Act, 1961 so as to
reduce the number of superfluous enactments in the statute book. This would also help
to regulate the legal profession by a single Act, the Advocates Act, 1961.
6. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objectives.
NEW DELHI; ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL.
The 21st July, 2023.
34 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PART II—SEC. 2]
FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM
The provisions of the Bill do not involve any expenditure of recurring or non-recurring
nature from the Consolidated Fund of India.
——————
P.C. MODY,
Secretary-General.
PUBLISHED BY THE SECRETARY-GENERAL, RAJYA SABHA, UNDER RULE 68 OF THE RULES OF PROCEDURE
AND CONDUCT OF BUSINESS IN THE RAJYA SABHA