The parties with their full descriptions and addresses for service, filed with the vakalatnama in most High Courts. It is the block on which notice is issued, so an incomplete address here is a wasted date later.
Everyone has signed one. Very few pages explain what its clauses actually authorise — which is the question behind almost every search for a vakalatnama format. Clause by clause, here is what you are conferring and what you are keeping back.
A vakalatnama is the written authority by which a party appoints an advocate to appear and act in a matter. It is filed with the first appearance, it names the parties and the matter, it is signed by the client and accepted by the advocate, and without it an advocate is not on record.
A vakalatnama is a grant of authority, and a grant can be wider than intended. These are the clauses that appear in the standard forms and what each one does.
| Clause | What it does |
|---|---|
| To appear, act and plead | The core grant. It permits the advocate to appear before the named court in the named matter, to conduct it, and to address the court. This is the clause that makes appearance an appearance on the record rather than a courtesy. |
| To sign, verify and present | Authority to sign, verify and present pleadings, applications and other papers on the client's instructions — subject to the rules that require certain documents to be signed or verified by the party in person. |
| To file and receive documents | Authority to file papers and to take documents, certified copies and orders back from the court's record. Without it, routine work at the court office has to be done by the client. |
| To receive money | Many printed forms include authority to receive money or costs payable in the proceeding. It is a separate authority and should be conferred deliberately. Where the client does not intend it, the clause is struck out before signature and the deletion is initialled. |
| To engage another advocate | Authority to instruct or associate another advocate, including senior counsel, to appear in the matter. Who bears the fee is a separate arrangement and is not settled by this clause. |
| To compromise or withdraw | The clause that matters most and is read least. Indian practice treats authority to compromise, withdraw or refer a matter as something that must be expressly conferred, not implied from the general authority to conduct the case. If it is not intended, it is deleted. |
| To accept notice and service | Authority to accept service of notices and processes in the matter for the client. This is why the address for service written into the vakalatnama has to be an address that is actually watched. |
| Acceptance by the advocate | The advocate's own signature accepting the appointment, with the enrolment number of the State Bar Council. Appointment is a two-sided act: the client's signature alone does not complete it. |
| Liability for fees and costs | Several prescribed forms carry a clause on the client's liability for fees and for the costs of the proceeding, and on the consequence of the advocate being unable to continue. Read the printed clause of the form your court prescribes rather than assuming a standard wording. |
Two practical habits follow. First, read the printed form before it is signed and strike out what is not intended, initialling each deletion. Second, keep the executed copy where you can find it — the day you need to prove the extent of your authority is not the day to start looking for it. Definitions of the terms above are in the glossary of Indian legal terms.
A vakalatnama that is signed but not properly executed is objected to at the filing counter, which costs a date. The sequence below is the general one; the particulars are set by the court's rules.
The party executes it — the individual litigant in person, or for a company, society, trust or firm the person authorised to act for it. That person's own authority, such as a board resolution or a power of attorney, may itself have to be filed with the vakalatnama.
Many courts require the client's signature or thumb impression to be identified or attested in the manner the rules prescribe, and require the place and date of execution to be written in. Where the client cannot read the language of the form, the contents are explained and that fact is recorded.
The advocate signs an acceptance and enters the enrolment number issued by the State Bar Council, along with the address for service, and where the rules require it, contact particulars.
A court fee stamp, an advocates welfare fund stamp, or both, are required in most states. The value and the requirement are set by state law and by the rules of the court concerned and differ from state to state — check the requirement where you are filing rather than carrying a figure across from another state.
The vakalatnama goes in with the first appearance in the matter. Where an advocate is engaged after the case has begun, it is filed with a memo of appearance and, where an advocate is already on record, with a no-objection or with the leave of the court.
Stamp, attestation and identification requirements are the part of this document that varies most across India. We deliberately do not publish state-wise figures here: a stale number would be worse than none. Ask the filing counter, or check the current rules of the court and the state fee law before the client signs.
Filing in the Supreme Court runs through the advocate-on-record system. The vakalatnama is executed in favour of an advocate-on-record, who files the matter and remains responsible for the conduct of it on the record; other advocates, including senior counsel, appear on that advocate-on-record's instructions. A litigant appearing in person is dealt with under a separate procedure.
Each High Court prescribes its own form and its own accompanying paper. The vakalatnama usually travels with a memo of parties setting out the parties with their full descriptions and addresses for service, and in many courts with identification of the executant. Where the matter is a writ petition or an appeal, the vakalatnama forms part of the paper book that is indexed and paginated with everything else.
Practice is lighter and closer to the counter. The prescribed form is generally available at the bar association or the stamp vendor, the stamp is affixed at the time of execution, and the vakalatnama is presented with the plaint, the written statement or the application it accompanies. Language requirements follow the court: several states work in the regional language at the district level and in English in the High Court.
Tribunals — consumer commissions, administrative tribunals, company and tax benches — follow their own rules, and some prescribe a memorandum of appearance rather than a vakalatnama in the civil-court form. The court-wise pages for the Supreme Court and all 25 High Courts set out what Lawgger shows for each court.
Read down a prescribed vakalatnama and this is the order you will find. Use it to check a form before it is signed — not as a form to copy.
| Part | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Name of the court | The court in which the matter is filed or pending, described as that court's rules describe it. |
| Description of the matter | The nature of the proceeding, its number and year where already allotted, and the parties in the order the record carries them. |
| The executant | The party appointing the advocate, with the description by which they appear in the matter — plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, applicant, accused. |
| The appointment | The naming of the advocate or advocates appointed, and the statement that they are appointed to appear and act in the matter described above. |
| The powers conferred | The clauses set out earlier on this page, as printed in the prescribed form, with anything not intended struck out and initialled. |
| Fees and costs clause | Where the prescribed form carries one, the clause on the client's liability for fees and costs and on the advocate's ability to withdraw. |
| Signature of the client | Signature or thumb impression, with the date and place of execution, and identification or attestation where the rules require it. |
| Acceptance of the advocate | The advocate's signature, name, enrolment number and address for service, and any further particulars the court requires. |
| Stamp | The court fee and welfare fund stamps required by the state and the court, affixed and cancelled as the rules provide. |
This is a structural breakdown, not legal advice and not a substitute for the form your court prescribes. A qualified advocate must settle and sign the document before it is filed. To produce a draft with the court, the matter and the parties already filled in, use Lawgger drafting.
वकालतनामा एक लिखित प्राधिकार-पत्र है जिसके द्वारा कोई पक्षकार किसी अधिवक्ता को अपने मुकदमे में पेश होने, कार्य करने और पैरवी करने के लिए नियुक्त करता है। यह प्रायः पहली पेशी के समय न्यायालय में दाखिल किया जाता है। इसमें न्यायालय का नाम, मुकदमे का विवरण, पक्षकारों के नाम तथा वे अधिकार अंकित होते हैं जो अधिवक्ता को दिए जा रहे हैं — जैसे प्रार्थना-पत्र दाखिल करना, दस्तावेज़ प्राप्त करना और न्यायालय के समक्ष बहस करना।
इस पर पक्षकार के हस्ताक्षर होते हैं और अधिवक्ता उसे स्वीकार करते हुए अपना नामांकन विवरण अंकित करता है। बिना वकालतनामे के अधिवक्ता न्यायालय के अभिलेख पर नहीं आता। स्टाम्प तथा सत्यापन की आवश्यकताएँ राज्य और न्यायालय के नियमों के अनुसार भिन्न होती हैं, इसलिए दाखिल करने से पहले सम्बन्धित नियम अवश्य देख लें।
On spelling: the same document is written as vakalatnama, wakalatnama and vakalat nama, and as वकालतनामा in Devanagari. All of them refer to the identical instrument, and no court treats one transliteration as different from another. Lawgger drafts it in ten Indian languages, so the document can be produced in the language the court works in.
A vakalatnama is the written authority by which a party appoints an advocate to appear and act for them in a particular matter before a particular court. It names the court, the matter and the parties, sets out the powers conferred, is signed by the client and accepted by the advocate, and is filed with the first appearance. Until it is filed, the advocate is not on the record.
An advocate cannot act for a party in a proceeding without a written authority filed in that proceeding. The Code of Civil Procedure requires the appointment of a pleader to be in writing signed by the party, and criminal and tribunal practice follows the same rule in substance. Without it, papers filed by the advocate are liable to be objected to at the filing counter.
The party signs it — the individual litigant, or for a company, society or firm the person authorised to act for it, whose own authority may have to be filed alongside. The advocate then signs an acceptance and adds the enrolment number issued by the State Bar Council. It is a two-sided document: appointment by the client and acceptance by the advocate.
In most Indian courts a vakalatnama carries a stamp — a court fee stamp, an advocates welfare fund stamp, or both, depending on the state. The value and the requirement are set by state law and by the rules of the court concerned, and they differ from state to state. Check the requirement of the court you are filing in rather than assuming a figure.
No. The substance is constant but the form is not. In the Supreme Court the vakalatnama is executed in favour of an advocate-on-record, who alone can file. High Courts and district courts prescribe their own forms, stamps, identification and accompanying papers such as a memo of parties. Always use the form the particular court prescribes.
A fresh vakalatnama is executed in favour of the new advocate. Where an advocate is already on record, court practice commonly requires a no-objection from that advocate, or leave of the court where a no-objection is not forthcoming, before the new vakalatnama is taken on record. The requirement and the manner of seeking leave vary between courts.
वकालतनामा एक लिखित प्राधिकार-पत्र है जिसके द्वारा कोई पक्षकार किसी अधिवक्ता को अपने मुकदमे में पेश होने, कार्य करने और पैरवी करने के लिए नियुक्त करता है। यह प्रायः पहली पेशी के समय न्यायालय में दाखिल किया जाता है। इस पर पक्षकार के हस्ताक्षर होते हैं और अधिवक्ता उसे स्वीकार करते हुए अपना नामांकन विवरण अंकित करता है। बिना वकालतनामे के अधिवक्ता न्यायालय के अभिलेख पर नहीं आता।
Yes. In Lawgger the vakalatnama is drafted from the format with the court, the matter and the parties already filled in from the intake form, and exported as a Word file or a PDF. The doc tools place stamps, convert between formats and run OCR on a scanned executed copy, which then goes into the private chamber vault with the matter.
A note on what this page is. This is a drafting note published for advocates, describing how a document is put together in Indian practice. It is not legal advice, it is not an opinion on any matter, and reading it creates no advocate-client relationship. A qualified advocate must settle and sign any vakalatnama before it is filed. Lawgger is a software company and not a law firm.
The vakalatnama, the memo of parties and everything that follows, drafted from your matter's own particulars. 3,500+ Indian formats, fourteen days free, no card.