High Court Act, 1861

Before 1861, a lawyer in Calcutta had to decide, before ever opening a law book, which of three separate professional identities to hold — advocate, attorney or vakil — because each one meant something different, was regulated by a different body, and let you appear before different courts. The Indian High Courts Act, 1861 did not erase that division overnight, but it put all three under the roof of a single new court, and that single roof is where unification eventually became possible.

In two minutes

When the Indian High Courts Act, 1861 merged the Supreme Courts and Sadar Adalats into single High Courts, it also gave those High Courts, through their Letters Patent, the power to approve, admit and enrol advocates, vakils and attorneys — bringing three previously separate categories of practitioner under one court's authority for the first time.

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