Pendency of only one criminal case of a serious nature shall be no disqualification for election to member of State Bar Council(s) and Bar Council of India.
The General Council of the Bar Council of India unanimously resolves to amend Rule 4, Chapter I of Bar Council of India Rules for Qualification Disqualification and procedure for election and code of conduct
The Bar Council of India has amended Rules for Qualification/Disqualification and procedure for election and code of conduct for the elections of members of State Bar Council/Bar Council of India.
The comparative of the existing provision and post amendment to Rule-4 of Chapter-I relating to Disqualifications for being a Member of State Bar Council(s) and Bar Council of India is as under:
| Existing Rules | Rule Post Amendment | 
| An Advocate, for being a Member of any Bar Council should not have been punished by any Disciplinary Committee and/or should not be a convict. There should be no Criminal case of serious nature (prescribing punishment for 7 years or more) pending against him/her prior to 9 months of the election. There should be no Disciplinary Committee Case pending before 9 months of election against him/her. He/she should be regular in practice and should not be in any other job or occupation. Any Advocate doing work of Handwriting expert or appearing as a witness in support of any litigant, shall not be eligible to be a Member of any Bar Council | An Advocate, for being a Member of any Bar Council should not have been punished by any Disciplinary Committee and/or should not be a convict. A candidate shall be ineligible for election if, as of a date not later than nine months prior to the election, two or more criminal cases of a serious nature (meaning offences punishable with imprisonment of seven years or more) are pending against him or her. For the avoidance of doubt, the pendency of only one such case shall not, by itself, attract this disqualification. There should be no Disciplinary Committee Case pending before 9 months of election against him/her. He/she should be regular in practice and should not be in any other job or occupation. Any Advocate doing work of Handwriting expert or appearing as a witness in support of any litigant, shall not be eligible to be a Member of any Bar Council. Any candidate aggrieved by the decision of the Returning Officer under this rule may approach the concerned Central Election Tribunal of the Bar Council of India within a period of 3 days and the decision of the Central Election Tribunal shall be final and binding on the Returning Officer | 
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