Procedure for transfer of an advocate to another state
An Advocate shall apply for No Objection Certificate (NOC) and copy of the State Roll from the State Bar Council where he has enrolled.
After obtaining the above said No Objection Certificate and copy of the State Roll, applicant shall file an application before the Bar Council of India (BCI) in Form C (under Section 18 of the Advocates Act) along with the D.D. for Rs. 2000/- (Rupees Two Thousand only) drawn in favour of ‘Bar Council of India’ payable at New Delhi.
The Bar Council of India will obtain No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the concerned State Bar Council to which he intended to transfer his name.
After obtaining an NOC from the said State Bar Council, the BCI will call for his original Enrolment application from where he enrolled.
After receiving the enrolment papers from the concerned State Bar Council, the BCI will take a decision in its meeting and the decision will be intimated to the applicant.
What the Section 18 of the Advocates Act says?
The Section 18 of the Advocates Act is as follows:
“Transfer of name from one State roll to another: –
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 17, any person whose name is entered as an advocate on the roll of any State Bar Council may make an application in the prescribed form to the Bar Council of India for the transfer of his name from the roll of that 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 fee, be removed from the roll of the first mentioned: State Bar Council and entered in the roll of the other State Bar Council and the ate Bar Councils concerned shall comply with such direction:
(Provided that where any such application for transfer is made by a person against whom any disciplinary proceeding is pending or where for any other reason it appears to the Bar Council of India that the application for transfer has not been made bona fide, and that the transfer should not be made, the Bar Council of India may, after giving the person making the application an opportunity of making a representation in this behalf, reject the application)
(2) For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that where on an application made by an advocate under sub-section (1), his name is transferred from the roll of one State Bar Council to that of another, he shall retain the same seniority in the latter roll to which he was entitled in the former roll”.
Bar Council of India Rules, 1975
Part VI Chapter III: Conditions for Right to Practice
(Rules under Section 49(1) (ah) of the Advocates Act)
1.Every Advocate shall be under an obligation to see that his name appears on the roll of the 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 six months of the start of such practice, it shall be deemed that he is guilty of professional misconduct within the meaning of Section 35 of the Advocates Act.
- 49. General Power of the Bar Council of India to make rules (1) The Bar Council of India may make rules for discharging its functions under this Act, and, in particular, such rules may prescribe.
- 49(1) (ah) of the Advocates Act: The conditions subject to which an advocate shall have the right to practice and the circumstances under which a person shall be deemed to practice as an advocate in a court.
RULES FRAMED under Section 34(1) of THE ADVOCATES ACT, 1961
Rules regarding conditions of practice of Advocates framed by the High Court of Kerala
In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 34(1) of the Advocate’s Act, 1961 (Central Ac 25/61) the High Court of Kerala hereby makes the following rules laying down the conditions subject to which an Advocate shall be permitted to practice in the High Court and the courts subordinate thereto.
Rule 3: An advocate who is not on the roll of advocates of the Bar Council of the State in which the Court is situate, shall not act in such Court, unless he files an appointment along with an advocate who is on the roll of such State Bar Council and who is ordinarily practicing in such Court.
Further reading
- Bar Council of India website page on transfer of an advocate to another state
- Web page of Bar Council of Kerala on transfer of roll of advocate to a new state
