EMPANELMENT OF ADVOCATES AND ENTRUSTMENT OF CASES:
a. To be eligible for empanelment, the Advocate must have minimum 5 (five) years of actual practice in Civil / Criminal side; AND an Office at the place where empanelment is sought.
b. The Circle Head is vested with the power to empanel Advocates in Bank’s Panel, for its Branches. Branchin-charge should forward the request for empanelment to R & L / Legal Section of Circle Office who, in turn shall place it before the Circle Head for orders.
c. While recommending for empanelment of an Advocate, the Branch / R & L Section, Circle Office should certify about the general opinion on efficiency, integrity and respectability of the Advocate, ascertained through discreet enquiries at the local area/ Bar/ Bank’s valued customers, etc.
d. Efficiency, competency and integrity should be the main criteria for appointment as Bank’s panel Advocate. The Advocate should be agreeable to Bank’s terms and conditions regarding payment of fees, charges, submission of pleadings / petitions for approval, etc.
e. Before entrustment of cases to Advocates, Branch should seek permission of concerned follow up authority at Circle Office / Head Office. R & L Section, Circle Office / DRT Liaison Office shall ensure that cases are uniformly distributed among Panel Advocates depending on the nature of cases, complexity involved in each case, performance of Advocates, their availability, vicinity, the capacity to complete cases expeditiously, timely reporting / proper conduct of cases, etc.
f. Fee and other charges shall be as per Bank’s Rules.
g. Panel Advocate should not use Bank’s name, symbol etc. in their letter head, sign board, name plates, pamphlets, etc; such as ‘Legal advisor to Canara Bank’/ ‘Advocate for Canara Bank’, etc.
h. Panel Advocate shall not appear / advise against any Branch / Office of the Bank, under any circumstances.
i. Inclusion of name in the Bank’s panel shall not constitute an appointment or a right for an appointment to be made by the Bank and that Bank reserves its right to terminate such engagement at any time.
j. The Bank is free to employ any Advocate of its own choice and no right exists for an empanelled Advocate to claim that he alone should be entrusted with Bank’s work.
k. Bank shall review the performance of panel Advocates every year.
l. If Panel Advocate has committed professional misconduct or has indulged in any act which is against professional ethics or has facilitated fraud / perpetration of fraud, R & L Section, Circle Office shall take steps to lodge Complaint with the Bar Council concerned, for appropriate action.
FEES PAYABLE TO ADVOCATES
I. IN DRT CASES:
a. For matters before DRT, fee payable may be fixed at 1% of the claim amount with a minimum of Rs. Rs. 12, 500/- and a maximum limit of Rs. 30, 000/-. In metro cities, viz, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore the maximum limit shall be Rs. 50, 000/-.
b. If in any state the scale of fee payable to the Advocates is less than Rs. 30, 000/- then the scale of fee as per the Civil Rules of Practice in that region alone should be paid and not Rs. 30, 000/- or Rs. 50, 000/- as stated above.
c. While entrusting the case to Advocate, 50% of the fees can be paid. When the claim petition is disposed of, the balance 50% can be paid. No junior fees is payable for handling DRT cases.
II. OTHER CASES:
The fees payable to Advocates shall be on the basis of the Schedule devised by respective Circle Offices.
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