Vakalat or vakalatnama or Memorandum of Appearance is a document that authorizes a advocate to act as a legal representative a person on behalf of whom a case is going on in the courts, this vakalat is used in all cases civil or criminal and whether it is a fresh case/suit or if there is a change in advocate who is representing the party (change of vakalat). The vakalat does not need to be like a form filled in strict manner. It just has to follow the structure, and this structure is present in the Tamilnadu Criminal Rules of Practice, 2019: Judicial Form No.71.
Further rules regarding the vakalat are addressed in rule 27 of the same enactment, such as that vakalat only authorizes for that particular case alone, can only be done by advocates enrolled in bar, that the advocate must sign with their enrollment number and office of address, further more this vakalat needs to be attested by some another that the vakalat was read out and explained in language preferred by the party. This attestation is done by gazetted officer or a bar enrolled advocate along with their enrollment number and address of office. The basic structure of the vakalat is thus,
VAKALATHNAMA
IN THE COURT OF ………………….
Case No. ……….. of …………..
…. Petitioner/Accused/Complainant
vs.
…. Respondent/Complainant/Accused
I/we do hereby appoint and retain Mr./Ms./Mrs./M/s. ………………………….. to appear for me/us in the above case on my/our behalf and to plead and I/we further empower him/her/them to accept on my/our behalf, service of notice of all proceedings in the above case, until disposal of the case.
[Signature/Accused/ Complainant/Respondent]
I certify that the contents of this Vakalatnama were read over and explained in …… (state the language) in my presence to the Executant who appeared perfectly to understand the same and made his/her/ their signature in my presence .
Executed before this …..day of ….. ……. 20…
[Signature & Enrollment No.] I / We accept the Vakalathnama. [Advocate]
The address for service of the advocate with Enrolment No., Mobile No. and
email id.
Name and address of the party(ies) with Mobile No. and email id if any & any Identity Card No.
However this vakalat structure can be modified a little written or printed and bears no consequences. Along with this there needs to be certain stamps affixed on the vakalat document that is 10 rs stamp (judicial) and commonly referred welfare/vakalat set stamp (The Tamil Nadu Advocates’ Welfare Fund stamp fee and the Tamil Nadu Advocates’ Clerks’ Welfare Fund stamp fee which are valued at Rs. 120 and Rs. 20). These stamps are addressed in law of court fees, tamil nadu, Schedule II:Article-1 (16) of the Tamil Nadu Court-Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955 (Tamil Nadu Act XIV of 1955), and The Tamil Nadu Advocates Clerks Welfare Fund Act, 1999 (Act 25 of 1999: Published on 17.6.1999). Revenue from these stamps goes directly to the Advocates Welfare Fund, which provides social security to advocates. And no vakalat is deemed legal or valid in Tamil Nadu if the above mentioned stamp is not present.
_ Written by Thiru. M. Monish M (Reg. No: RA2361002010021), IV-Year B.A. LL.B., SRM School of Law, Chennai, during an internship at the Chambers of Adv. Ramprakash Rajagopal, Tamilnadu.
