{"id":391172,"date":"2026-07-22T19:45:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=391172"},"modified":"2026-07-22T19:37:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:07:39","slug":"gcai-representation-draft-advocates-amendment-bill-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/07\/22\/gcai-representation-draft-advocates-amendment-bill-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Expand the Scope of “Legal Practitioner,” Amend Rule 49, Boost Skill Development: Inside GCAI’s Representation to BCI on the Draft Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On 21 July 2026, the General Counsels’ Association of India (GCAI) submitted a detailed representation to the Bar Council of India (BCI) on the Draft Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2026<\/span><\/a>, seeking recognition of advocates and legal professionals serving as General Counsels and in-house counsels in private-sector, public-sector and joint-sector organisations.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    The representation was submitted in response to the Draft Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2026<\/span> released by the BCI for stakeholder consultation.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    GCAI welcomed the draft’s proposals relating to law firms, professional development, legal education, emerging areas of practice and internationalisation of the Indian legal profession.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    GCAI has urged the BCI to recognise advocates and legal practitioners serving as General Counsels and in-house counsels within private-sector, public-sector and joint-sector organisations.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    According to GCAI, the Advocates Act, 1961 was enacted when legal practice was predominantly court-centric, whereas modern legal practice now extends to corporate, commercial, regulatory, transactional, technology, data protection, insolvency, arbitration and governance-related work.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  5. \n

    GCAI argued that recognition should depend on the nature of legal work performed rather than the organisational structure through which a lawyer provides legal services.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  6. \n

    The Association has proposed expanding the definition of ‘legal practitioner’<\/span> to expressly include persons providing legal advisory, transactional, regulatory, compliance, arbitration, mediation, dispute-resolution, litigation-management, drafting, documentation, governance and other professional legal services in government and non-government organisations.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  7. \n

    GCAI has recommended amendment of Section 29<\/span> of the Advocates Act, 1961 so that legal practitioners engaged in full-time employment are recognised as persons practising law for the duration of such engagement.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  8. \n

    GCAI has proposed that advocates serving as General Counsels or in-house counsels should be entitled to retain or revive their enrolment\/Sanad and be deemed to have practised law during the period of bona fide legal employment.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  9. \n

    The representation states that the distinction between advocates performing corporate and commercial legal work through law firms and advocates performing similar functions as in-house counsel has become increasingly artificial.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  10. \n

    GCAI has argued that recognition of in-house legal practice and strengthening of Indian law firms are complementary objectives and that a globally competitive legal ecosystem requires both institutional law firms and strong in-house legal functions.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  11. \n

    GCAI has further stated that any recognition of in-house legal practitioners may require corresponding amendments to Section 33<\/span> of the Act.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  12. \n

    GCAI noted that the 2026 Bill itself recognises specialised areas such as corporate law, arbitration, mediation, artificial intelligence, cyber law, taxation, insolvency and international legal practice as important fields for professional development.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  13. \n

    The Association emphasised that General Counsels and in-house legal teams regularly perform legal functions including compliance management, contract drafting, dispute prevention, litigation management, investigations, arbitration, regulatory engagement and corporate governance advisory.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  14. \n

    GCAI argued that there is no principled basis for recognising legal work performed in a government organisation while excluding substantially similar legal work undertaken for private-sector, public-sector or joint-sector employers.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  15. \n

    GCAI has proposed insertion of the words ‘private sector, public sector or joint sector organisation’ after the reference to ‘Government organisation’ in the proposed definition of ‘legal practitioner’<\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  16. \n

    GCAI has appended Annexure A<\/span> to its representation, setting out both a minimum amendment and a preferred comprehensive formulation of the proposed definition of ‘legal practitioner’ for consideration by the BCI.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  17. \n

    GCAI has also sought consequential amendment of Rule 49<\/span> of the Bar Council of India Rules so that full-time salaried employment in a bona fide legal role does not automatically result in loss of professional recognition.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  18. \n

    The Association has proposed that such recognition can be accompanied by:<\/p>\n