Solicitors Act, 1954

Date and period of validity of practising certificate.

48.—(1) A practising certificate issued during the period beginning on the 6th day of January in any year and ending on the next following 5th day of February shall bear the date of the said 6th day of January and a practising certificate not so issued shall bear the date of the day on which it is issued.

(2) A practising certificate shall, subject to subsection (3) of this section, be in force as on and from the day of which it bears the date.

(3) The Chief Justice may, on application made to him in that behalf, direct that, on payment by the applicant to the Society of such amount as may be fixed by the Chief Justice, a practising certificate which bears a date later than the 5th day of February in any practice year shall, either unconditionally or subject to specified conditions, be in force as on and from a specified date which is earlier than the date borne by the certificate and not earlier than the first day of that practice year.

(4) The Society shall be entitled to appear and to be heard upon the hearing of an application under subsection (3) of this section and the registrar shall be notified of the result of the application.

(5) The registrar shall enter in the register of practising solicitors a note of the date borne by a practising certificate and, where the Chief Justice directs that the certificate shall be in force as on and from a date earlier than the date borne by the certificate, a note of the earlier date.

(6) A practising certificate which is in force shall continue in force until the end of the practice year during which it was issued and shall then expire.