Transfer of Proceedings from the State Bar Council to the Bar Council of India

When is it used? The Act sets no criteria. In practice a withdrawal is sought where the matter is of more than local importance, where there is reason to doubt that the State committee can deal with it impartially, or where related proceedings are pending in different States.

Section 36B(1): the one-year rule, and it is automatic

"The disciplinary committee of a State Bar Council shall dispose of the complaint received by it under section 35 expeditiously and in each case the proceedings shall be concluded within a period of one year from the date of the receipt of the complaint or the date of initiation of the proceedings at the instance of the State Bar Council, as the case may be, failing which such proceedings shall stand transferred to the Bar Council of India which may dispose of the same as if it were a proceeding withdrawn for inquiry under sub-section (2) of section 36."

This is the more important half of MU's topic and the half students know least, so take it apart carefully.

"Shall dispose of... expeditiously." A direction in terms.

"Within a period of one year." The outer limit.

From when does the year run? The section gives two starting points, depending on how the proceeding began:

• from the date of the receipt of the complaint, where it began on a complaint; or
• from the date of initiation of the proceedings at the instance of the State Bar Council, where it began on the Council's own motion.

Note that the year runs from receipt of the complaint, not from the date of reference to the disciplinary committee. Time spent by the Council deciding whether to refer is time spent.

"Shall stand transferred." Not "may be transferred", and not "shall be transferred by order". The transfer is automatic and by operation of law. No application is needed, no order is made, and the State committee loses the case whether or not anybody notices.

"As if it were a proceeding withdrawn for inquiry under sub-section (2) of section 36." Once transferred, the case is treated exactly as a section 36(2) withdrawal, so section 36(3) and section 36(4) apply: the section 35 procedure with the Attorney-General noticed, and any of the four orders, which the State Bar Council must give effect to.

Section 36B(2) is the transitional provision for cases pending when the amending Act of 1973 commenced: such a proceeding was to be disposed of within six months from that commencement or one year from the receipt of the complaint or initiation, whichever is later, failing which it stood transferred under sub-section (1).

Why the one-year rule exists

Worth being able to say, because it is the reason the provision is drafted as a deadline rather than as a discretion.

A disciplinary proceeding suspends nothing. The advocate goes on practising while it is pending, and the client who complained goes on waiting. A proceeding that drifts for years serves nobody: the advocate lives under a cloud he cannot clear, the complainant gets nothing, and the profession's discipline looks like an illusion.

Section 36B answers that by removing the case from the body that has failed to finish it. It is a rare piece of drafting: a self-executing time limit with a consequence that needs no application.

Three traps

One. It is not a limitation period for the complaint. Section 36B does not say that a complaint filed after a year is barred. It says a proceeding not concluded within a year leaves the State committee. Contrast section 20 of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971, which is a true limitation on initiation and is dealt with in Module IV.

Two. The proceeding does not lapse. Students assume that if the year expires the advocate is home. He is not: the case continues, before a different body.

Three. Section 35(1A) is a third thing again. That provision lets the State Bar Council move a proceeding from one of its own disciplinary committees to another committee of the same Council. It does not involve the Bar Council of India at all. Three provisions, three different movements:

A worked example: computing the year

A complaint against an advocate on the roll of a State Bar Council is received on 3 March 2025. The Council calls for an explanation, considers it, and refers the case to its disciplinary committee on 20 August 2025. The committee holds hearings through 2025 and 2026 and has not concluded by 3 March 2026.

Has the proceeding been transferred? Yes. The year runs from the date of the receipt of the complaint, that is 3 March 2025, and not from the reference on 20 August 2025. On 3 March 2026 the proceeding stood transferred to the Bar Council of India.

Does anyone have to apply? No. The words are "shall stand transferred", and the transfer is by operation of law.

What happens to the evidence already recorded? The proceeding is dealt with as if it were a proceeding withdrawn under section 36(2), so it goes to the Bar Council of India's disciplinary committee, which disposes of it. Section 36A is the neighbouring provision that lets a successor committee continue from the stage its predecessor left, and the same practical principle applies: the case is continued, not restarted.

Who is noticed now? By section 36(3), the Attorney-General of India in place of the Advocate-General.

Change one fact. Suppose that instead of the year expiring, the complainant, dissatisfied with delay at six months, applies to the Bar Council of India. That is section 36(2): an application by a person interested, on which the Bar Council of India's disciplinary committee may withdraw the proceeding. It is a discretion, so it can be refused, and the year under section 36B continues to run in the meantime.

Change another. Suppose the State Bar Council decides its own committee has been slow and gives the case to a different committee of its own. That is section 35(1A), and it changes nothing about the section 36B year, which runs from receipt of the complaint regardless of which of the Council's committees is holding the file.

What beginners get wrong

There are two provisions, not one.

Section 36B is not discretionary. "Shall stand transferred".

The year runs from receipt of the complaint, not from the reference to the committee.

Expiry does not end the case. It moves it.

Section 36B is not a limitation period on making a complaint.

Section 35(1A) is not a transfer to the Bar Council of India.

After transfer, the section 36(2) machinery applies, including notice to the Attorney-General and the State Bar Council's duty to give effect to the order.

Quick revision

• Section 36(2): the disciplinary committee of the Bar Council of India may, of its own motion, on a report by any State Bar Council, or on an application by any person interested, withdraw for inquiry before itself any proceeding pending before a State committee and dispose of it. Notwithstanding anything in the Chapter. The second and third routes were added in 1973.
• Section 36B(1): a State committee shall dispose of the complaint expeditiously and within one year from the date of receipt of the complaint or the date of initiation at the Council's instance, failing which the proceedings shall stand transferred to the Bar Council of India, to be dealt with as if withdrawn under section 36(2).
• The transfer is automatic, needs no application and no order, and the proceeding does not lapse.
• Section 36B(2) was the transitional rule for cases pending in 1974: six months from commencement or one year from receipt or initiation, whichever is later.
• After transfer, section 36(3) applies the section 35 procedure with the Attorney-General noticed, and section 36(4) lets the Bar Council of India make any section 35(3) order, which the State Bar Council shall give effect to.
• Three different movements: section 35(1A) within one State Council; section 36(2) discretionary withdrawal upward; section 36B(1) automatic transfer upward.

Test yourself

1. Distinguish section 36(2) from section 36B(1). Section 36(2) is a discretionary withdrawal by the disciplinary committee of the Bar Council of India, on its own motion, on a State Bar Council's report, or on an application by a person interested. Section 36B(1) is an automatic transfer by operation of law where a State committee has not concluded the proceeding within one year; no application or order is required.

2. From what date does the one-year period run? From the date of receipt of the complaint, or, where the proceeding was initiated at the instance of the State Bar Council, from the date of initiation. It does not run from the date the case was referred to the disciplinary committee.

3. What happens to a proceeding that is not concluded within the year? It stands transferred to the Bar Council of India, which may dispose of it as if it were a proceeding withdrawn for inquiry under section 36(2). The proceeding does not lapse and the advocate is not discharged.

4. Who may ask the Bar Council of India to withdraw a pending State proceeding? The disciplinary committee may act of its own motion; a State Bar Council may make a report; and any person interested may make an application. The last two routes were substituted by the amending Act of 1973.

5. Is section 36B a period of limitation for filing a complaint? No. It fixes a period within which a proceeding must be concluded, with the consequence that it is transferred if it is not. It says nothing about when a complaint may be made. A true limitation on initiation is section 20 of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971.

6. Distinguish both provisions from section 35(1A). Section 35(1A) lets a State Bar Council, of its own motion or on the application of any person interested, withdraw a proceeding from one of its own disciplinary committees and direct the inquiry to be made by another committee of the same State Bar Council. It does not move the case to the Bar Council of India at all.