Published on: 20 September 2023 at 11:14 IST
Court: Supreme Court of India
Citation: Goa Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. V. R.K. Chawla (2011)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that a person cannot give a power of attorney to anyone other than a person who is enrolled as an advocate to appear on his behalf to appear before the Hon’ble Court. It is held that Section 32 of the Advocates Act, 1961 does not confers right to a person to appear and argue before the Honourable Court without prior permission.
3. A perusal of the above provision shows that only a person who is enrolled as an advocate can practise in a court, except where otherwise provided by law. This is also evident from Section 29 of the Act. A natural person can, of course, appear in person and argue his own case personally but he cannot give a power of attorney to anyone other than a person who is enrolled as an advocate to appear on his behalf. To hold otherwise would be to defeat the provisions of the Advocates Act.
4. Section 32 of the Act, however, vests discretion in the court, authority or person to permit any person who is not enrolled as an advocate to appear before the court and argue a particular case. Section 32 of the Act is not the right of a person (other than an enrolled advocate) to appear and argue before the court but it is the discretion conferred by the Act on the court to permit anyone to appear in a particular case even though he is not enrolled as an advocate.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra
