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Employees' Provident Fund Organisation(Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of lndia)d*q ofqfoq. qe=TT. Regionat office, patna

qhq ftB qq-rlBhavishyanidhi Bhawanenro d-o, rls qo-0, qe=Tr-800 oot /R, Block, Road No - 6, Patna - 800 001

q$nc,/Phone :0612-2227139,2227410, Fax - 0612 - 2506632: e-mail : ro.patna@epfindia,gov.in

q, qoll.etter No. BR/RO/LC/Emp. of Advocate l2Ol7 -19 I f4nto / Dated : 1810512017

NOTTCE ilyVrTrNG APPLICATIONS FOR EMPANELMENT OFADVOGATES

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Regional Office, Patna, Bihar, onbehalf of the Central Board, Employees' Provident Funds, a statutory body of the Ministry ofLabour & Employment, Government of lndia, proposes to engage. Panel Counsel(s) torepresent the Central Board, EPF before Hon'ble High Court, CAT, SCDRF, DCDRF, LowerCourt as well as different judicial fora falling under Regional Office, Patna jurisdiction.

The practicing advocates who are registered with Bar Council of lndia/State Bar Councilare eligible for empanelment. The qualification, experience, other terms and conditions and theapplication format in which the application has to be made, have been prescribed.

The Advocates who are on the existing panel of EPFO shall cease to be on thb panei ofEPFO after new panel is finalized against this notice. Therefore, they may also apply afresh inresponse to this notice.

Eligible practicing advocate must submit application in the format prescribed in Annexure'A' and Annexure 'B' enclosed herewith, along with all supporting ducuments in a sealedenvelope to :-

Regional Provident Fu nd Commiss ionerEmployees' Provident Fund Organisation,

(Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of lndia)Regionat Office, Patna

Bhavishyanidhi Bhawan, R-Block, Road No.6Patna-800 001(Bihar)

Telephone :- 0612-2227410. l

The envelope should be superscribed as following :-

' Application for Empanelment of Advocate for (Court Name)

The last date of receiving Applications in the prescribed format along with supportingdocuments is 05 June , 2017 till 16.00 hours.

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Application for empanelment at EPFO does not confer any right/assurance whatsoever,to an applicant that he/she will be empanelled on the panel of EPFO. Letters to advocatesconfirming their empanelment will be issued by EPFO separately. :

GUIDELINES FOR EMPANELMENT OF ADVOCATES

Following guidelines are designed to provide and regulate the manner and procedure forempanelling the advocates to represent and assist EPFO before various courts and forregulating the referrals of the cases and payment of fee/remuneration. These guidelines shallsupersede all existing instructions in this regard, if any, and is subject to change withoutassigning any reason.

L Eliqibilitv of Empanelment

Before filling the application form, the candidates are advised to carefully read and follow theeligibility criteria, instructions and terms & conditions for empanelment of Advocates in EPFOmentioned herein below :-

For designation of an advocate to handle the cases before the Hon'ble Court:- :

i) Be enrolled/ registered as an advocate with the Bar Council of lndia / the State Bar Council.

ii) Be enrolled / registered and currently practising as an Advocate-on Record.

iii) Have a minimum, relevant experience of Ten vears of handling Civil, Criminal, Service,Labour matters, Arbitration matters and other cases before Hon'ble Court of lndia with a fairknowledge of labour laws with special reference to Employees' Provident Funds andMiscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (E.P.F. and M.P. Act, 1952).

2. Tenure of Empanelment

The initial empanelment will be for the period of two years i.e. for the period 01.04.2017 lo31.03.2019. Performance of empanelled advocates shall be reviewed at regular interval forcontinuance in the panel of Advocate.

3. Pavment of Fee And Other Conditions

(1) The fee payable to the Advocates shall be governed by the guidelines issued from the HeadOffice, New Delhi and as amended from time to time. However, at present there is noseperate fee defined for the panel advocate of EPFO, who are designated as SeniorAdvocate by the Hon'ble Court.

2) The Competent Authority shall have the right in exceptional cases to approve the payment ofa higher fee than the fee mantioned in the annexed shcedule keeping in view the importanceof the matter and the efforts put in by the advocate in a particular case.

3) No retainer fee shall be paid to any panel Advocate merely because such advocate has beenempanelled.

4. Procedure for Empanelment

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a. The applicant advocate must apply on the format prescribed by the EPFO only. No other

format will be entertained.

b. An applicant advocate willing to be empanelled for more than one forum (i.e. High Court,

CAT, SCDRF, DCDRF, Lower Court as well as different judicial fora) may apply separately

for each forum in separate envelope superscribed as mentioned earlier.

c. Any application received after the last date prescribed in the advertisement shall not be

entertained.

d, No applicant advocate shall be called for interview/interaction unless heishe satisfies.the

eligibility conditions and is shortlisted for the same. :

e. Depending upon the requirement and number of applications received, EPFO reserves the

right to shortlist the candidates to be called for interviewiinteraction and to be empanelled.

f. Merely fulfilling the eligibility criteria will not confer any right on an appllicant advocate to be

called for interview/interaction and to be selected.

g.The decision of the competent authority regarding short listing and selection of the candidates

shall be final.

h. Canvassing in any form shall be treated as a disqualification. The candidature of such

applicants shall be forthwith.

i. Shortlisted applicant advocates with the date, time and venue of lnterview will be informed

individually.

j. The appllicant advocate shall bring original documents at the time of interview. l

k.Letter to applicant advoctes confirming their empanelment will be issued by EPFO separately.

5. Duties of the Empanqlled Advocates :

a. The Advocate shall not advise any party or. accept any case against the EPFO in which

he/she has appeared or is likely to be called upon to appear for or advise which is likely to

affect or lead to litigation agaisnt the EPFO.

b. Timely appearance of the Counsel to contest the cases for EPFO in the Court is a must.

His/her absence in the Court, without any reasonalble gr:ound and notice in advance, will not

be accepted"

c. EPFO shall only engage empanelled Senior Advocate in a case (as and when required) by

providing him an advocate for assistance from the approved panel. :

c. EPFO sends the information to the panel advocates through email regarding entrustment of

a case and after receiving the e-mail, it is duty of the panel Advocates to collect the

brief/copy of petition along with assignment letter from the concerned office of EPFO at the

earliest.

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d.

e.

f.

g.

i.

EPFO is free to engage any advocate of its own choice and an empanelled Advocate shallmake no claim that he/she alone should be entrusted with EPFO's legal matter(s).

Refusal by any advocate to accept any work without any reasonable cause (e.g. on groundsof conflict of interest) may entail removal of such advocate from the panel, forthwith withoutwaiting for the empanelment period to expire. :

The advocates shall accept the terms and conditions of the empanelment as determined bythe EPFO from time to time.

ln order to ensure that there is effective check on the cases being conducted, the Advocateson the panel must report the status of the cases after each date of hearing. Failui-e to submitstatus report will be a ground for removal of the name of the lawyer concerned from thepanel.

ln cases where on the request of the Union of lndia, Ministry of Labour & Employment havealso to be represented, no extra fee shall be paid to the advocate to watch and safeguardthe interests of Union of lndia, Ministry of Labour & Employment.

lf required, render all assistance to Special or Senior Counsel engaged in a pearticularcases before the Hon'ble Supreme Court, High Court and other judicial bodies.

j Keep EPFO infor:med and updated on all-important developments in the designated cases,dates of hearing, order of the court on the date of its pronouncement, supplying copy oforders/judgment etc.

k. Furnish monthly statement about the cases,represented by him/her before the High Court,CAT, SCDRF, DCDRF, Lower Court or any other authority and their outcomes.

L When any case attended by him/her is decided against the Organisation, the Advocateconcerned must give considered opnion regarding the reasons for such adverse order andthe advisability of filing an appeal from such a decision not later than 5 working days of theorder (kuchha copy). However, reason for success may also be forwarded along with finalorder,

m. 30% of the fees payable to the counsel shall be deducted, if the, certified copy of thejudgment is not handed over to the Legal cell of EPFO within three days (excluding the timetaken by the court in preparation of the copy) from the date of judgement.

6. Removal from Pane!

EPFO reseryes the right to terminate the empanelment of a Counsel with one month's notice inwriting without assigning any reason. The counsel may also resign from the Organisation byserving one month's notice.

Empanelment shall be liable to be cancelled due to occurring of any of the followingdisablements on the part of the Advocate.

a. Giving false information in the application for empanelment.

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h.

:

b. Failing to attend the hearing of the case without any sufficient reason and / or prior

information.

c. Not acting as per EPFO's instructions or going against specific instructions ;

d. Threatening, intimidating or abusing any of the EPFO's employees, officers, orrepresentatives ;

e. Passing on information relating to EPFO's case on to the opposite parties or their advocatesor any third party which is likely to cause any damage to the EPFO's interests ;

f. Giving false or misleading information to the EPFO relating to the proceedings of the case ;

and

g. Seeking frequent adjournments or not objecting the adjournment moved by other party:without sufficient reason.

h, Frequent absence from the court proceedings even if 'pass over' or 'proxy' is obtained by anadvocate.

Regional P. F. CommissionerEPFO, Regional Office, Patna.

Bihar.

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ANNEXURE A

APPLICATION NO. (To be filled by EPFO)

APPLICATION FORM FOR EMPANELMENI IN EPF9,

(TO BE FILLED IN BY ALL APPLICANT ADVOCATES)

To,

Regional Provident Fund CommissionerEmployees' Provident Fund Organisation,(Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of lndia)Regional Office, Patna i

Bhavishyanidhi Bhawan, R-Block, Road No.6Patna-800 001(Bihar)Telephone :- 061 2-2227 41 0.

Name ( in Block letter)Father's nameCourt for whichapplied

CHECKLIST

List of documents attached (please r/)Copy of all Certificates & mark - sheets (X th onwards)Experience CertificateDuly filed Annexure- A&BOthers (Please specify) : 1.

2.

PERSONAL DETAILS (lN Block l_etters)

1. Name in FULL

2. Father's/ Husband's Name

3. Date of Birth

4. Age on ( last Date of receipt of application)

5. Nationality

b. Marital Status

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7. Address for correspeondence with PIN and phone

8. Permanent Address with PIN and Phone

9. Address of office/chamber, if any, with PIN and Phone

10. Mobile Number(s)

11. Email lD:

12.Are you related to any EPFO employees ? lf so, pleasegive details (viz. Name, Designation, place of work &relationship with the applicant :

12. Details of Educational qualification (Commencing with the Matriculatiorr or equivalentexamination)

ExaminationsPassed

Name of theBoard/University

Class ordivision

% of Marks Subjects Year ofPassing

10th/Matriculation

12thtlntermaediateGraduationLLB/LawGraduateDegreePostGraduation

OtherProfessionalQualifications

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Name of theDepartm e nt/PS U/Statuto ry

Body/Autonomous Body

From To

1.

2.

13. Whether the applicant is currently on the Panel of any other GovernmentDepartmenUPSU/Statutory Body/Autonomous Body etc., and if yes, the details below (Self

- certified Copy of the Office Order/letter of empanelment may be attached) :-

14. Whether the applicant has worked as Legal Researcher (LR) attached to any CourUJudge ?

lf yes, the details and the supporting documents :-

Name of Court/Judge Period of Resedrch Supporting documents

1.

2.

15. lf one or more advocates are associated as juniors of the applicant, their details be providedbelow:-

Sl. No. Name of the advocate Enrolment no. with date

I16. lnfrastructural facilities available with the appllicant (please tick if available) be provided

below:

Sl. No. Office space Office clerk Steno/typist Support staff

Sl. No. Title of case (Documentary proof must be attached)

17. No. of Cases relating to EPF and MP Act' 1952, tf handled earlier :-

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18. Whether the applicant has been engaged (through Vakalatname) as counsel in anylandmark or mother case ? lf yes, the particulars of the case with copy of the judgment

wherein his/her name is recorded as advocate for one of the parties (Copy oforder/Judgement be attached as proof) :-

Name of the Court Case title Nature of Judgment

19. Whether lncome Tax return is being filed for last five years ? Yes/No (lf yes, please attachcopies of lTRs.)

20. Details of Bank Account/Aadhar Number be provided below :-

21. Whether any proceeding has ever been cominenced or is continuing before the DisciplinaryCommittee of the Bar Council for alleged professional misconduct :-

Sl. No. Details of aliegations and proceedings Finding made by theDiscipli nary Committee.

22. Whether any criminal complaint has ever been filed or Flll registered or any criminalproceeding has ever commenced against the applicant advocate :-

Sl. No. Details of aliegations and proceedings Finding made by the Court

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Bank Account Details (Bank,

Account Number, Address ofthe branch and IFSC code)

PAN number Aadhar Number

I

23. Any additional professional qualification (s), which will further the candiature, including .

membership of professional societs, awards and honours etc. may be listed in the boxbelow, (Documentary proofs may be attached) .

UNDERTAKING

1) I hereby confirm and declare that the information furnished in the application and in the i

attached Certificate is true/correct and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. I

have not concealed any relevant information. I am fully aware tfrit if any of the informationfurnished by me is found to be false/incorrect, my candidature for the empanelment will betreated as cancelled and matter will be referred to the appropriate authority.

2) I also undertake to maintain absolute secrecy about the cases of the EPFO as requiredunder the Act, Rules and Regulations thereunder.

3) I also undertake to return all case files and records to the EPFO as and when required byEPFO.

4) I agree with the fee Schedule notified by EpFO.

Place and Date :

Signature of AdvocateEnrolment Number

Mobile Number

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APPLICATION NO. -------------(To be fiiled by EpFO)ANNEXURE-B

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SHEET(To be filled in by existing Panel advocates, apptying for fresh empanetment)

1.

2"

3.

4.

5.

Name of the Panel Advocate ;

Empanelled for supreme court/High court/ EpF AT New Delhi

Duration in the Panel :

Total No. of cases allotted :-

No. of cases Decided :-

ln favour case title

6.

7.

8.

9.

No. of cases pending ;-

Details of oldest pending with the advocate

Special achievements, if any ;-.

Remarks of applicant advocate, if any

(Signature andPlace :-Date :-

name of the applicant)

Page L1 of 1J.

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