RAMAKANTA SAMANTA Vs. STATE BAR COUNCIL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners are Advocates enrolled under the Advocates Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and are members of the Athgarh Bar Association. Opposite party No. 2 Shri Achyutananda Das was enrolled as an Advocate by the Orissa State Bar Council (Opp. party No. 1) in 1969. In this application under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution, the petitioners pray for the issue of a writ of mandamus or certiorari quashing the enrolment of opposite party No. 2 on the ground that he did not possess the necessary qualification for enrolment.

(2.) Opposite party No. 2 is not a graduate in law. It is also not disputed that he had not passed the Muktarship examination. But admittedly he was practising as a Mukhtar in the ex-State of Athgarh since the year 1945 and his name had been borne in the list of Mukhtars practising in that ex-State area till Athgarh was merged in the State of Orissa in 1948. Under the Orissa Merged States' (Laws) Act, 1950, certain enactments mentioned in the Schedule of the Act were brought into force in the merged areas and one such enactment is the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 with certain modifications. One of the modifications is insertion of a new section (Section 42) which so far as is material runs thus:

(3.) In pursuance of the power vested in High Court under Section 42 (3) of the Legal Practitioners Act referred to above, the High Court on 17-12-1949 issued to opposite party No. 2 the certificate at Annexure 2 which may be reproduced.