Authorise the Lawyer to fight for you.

Meaning of Vakalatnama 

A “vakalatnama” also known as VP the abbreviation VP stands for “vakil patra” vakalatnama. Vakil patra is a document that is submitted to the court of law by the concerned advocate/ solicitor/counsel/lawyer who declares that he/she is being appointed by his or her client to represent them in any legal matter.

Power of Attorney

The word vakalatnama comes from the Urdu language which literally means a power of attorney. However, the Indian courts have chosen to interpret “vakalatnama” liberally as a document bestowing a wide range of powers upon an advocate unlike a power of attorney.

Definition of Vakalatnaman

Considering the definition of vakalatnaman the word is not defined in either of the statues. Be it power of attorney act 1882 or the civil procedure code 1908. It  is only author P. Ramnathan aiyar’s book “advance law lexicon” which says that vakalatnama includes a memorandum of acceptance and then an advocate is empowered to appear or plead before any court, tribunal or authority.

Document Empowering

Vakalatnama is not defined either in the Power -of- Attorney Act, 1882 or in the Civil Procedure Code, 1908. Most importantly, A Vakalatnama is the document empowering a lawyer to act for and on behalf of his client. A Vakalatnama under which a lawyer is empowered to act may be general. it may specifically confer wide authority upon a lawyer.

A lawyer holding a Vakalatnama can hardly be said to be a person without authority. The rule of construction a document appointing an agent is different from that of construing a Vakalatnama appointing a counsel.

Define Pleader 

A pleader is defined under section 2(15) of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, as follows-

“Pleader” means any person entitled to appear and plead for another in Court and includes an advocate, a vakil and an attorney of a High Court.

A Vakalatnama normally contains the following information for instance name of the court, number of the court room, number of the case, name of the parties, date. In addition, signature of the client, signature of the advocate, office address of the advocate, enrolment number of the advocate, etc. are included in a vakalatnama. Several formats of this document are available. Being a mere one page document the vakalatnama grabs much significance than expected.

Yes, a vakalatnama can be withdrawn in case of the death of the client, or the death of a lawyer or advocate, when the client withdraws the vakalatnama with the permission of the court. When the lawyer or advocate withdraws the vakalatnama with the permission of court, in case of all proceedings of the court is ended.

• A person / party filing a case, May also represent their own case personally in any court.

• However, due to lack of knowledge of Law and Technical Procedures, Lawyers are engaged to report the interest of parties.

• “Online Vakalatnama”, is a document, by which the party filing the case authorizes the Advocate to represent on their behalf?

• On General Terms, a Vakalatnama may contain the falling terms :

• The client will not hold the Advocate responsible for any decision.

• The client shall bear all the costs and /expenses incurred during the proceedings.

• The advocate shall have right to retain the documents, unless complete fees are paid.

• The client is free to disengage the Advocate at any stage of the Proceedings.

• The Advocate shall have all the right to take decisions on his own in the court of Law, during the hearing, to the best interest of client.

• Vakalatnama is affixed on the last page of plaint / suit and is kept along with court records.

• No fees are required to be paid on it. However, nowadays, Delhi High court Rules require, a 10 Rupees. “Advocate Welfare Stamp” to be affixed on the Vakalatnama.

• Plaint should also have the requisite court fees attached to it. Court fees are some nominal percentage of the value of the claim or value of the suit. The requisite amount of Court and stamp fees is different for every suit, and is mentioned in the “Court Fees Stamp Act.”