Professional ethicsHistoryCalcutta High Court (Special Bench)

In re Regina Guha

35 Ind Cas 92519161 min read
The case in brief30-second read
Facts
Miss Regina Guha, a Bachelor of Law of the University of Calcutta (1916), applied for enrolment as a pleader in the District of 24-Parganas and was refused. As the first application by a woman, it was heard by a Special Bench.
Issue
Does the Legal Practitioners Act 1879 contemplate women practitioners, and do the High Court's rules exclude them?
Held
The rules framed under S.6 of the 1879 Act contemplated the admission of men only, and were not ultra vires.
Principle
Under the Legal Practitioners Act 1879 and the High Court's rules as they then stood, a woman could not be enrolled as a pleader; any change was for the Legislature.
Cite this

Facts

  • Miss Regina Guha, a Bachelor of Law of the University of Calcutta (1916), applied for enrolment as a pleader in the District of 24-Parganas and was refused.
  • As the first application by a woman, it was heard by a Special Bench.

Issue

  1. Does the Legal Practitioners Act 1879 contemplate women practitioners, and do the High Court's rules exclude them?

Held

  • The rules framed under S.6 of the 1879 Act contemplated the admission of men only, and were not ultra vires.
  • "As the law now stands Miss Regina Guha is not entitled to be enrolled as a Pleader of the subordinate Courts" (para 31); any change must be made by the Legislature (para 32).
  • The Chief Justice traced the origin of pleaders in Bengal: "The first Regulation dealing with this matter was Regulation VII of 1793" (para 10).

Ratio decidendi

Statutes regulating the profession were read against the circumstances of their time; women's entry required legislation.

Exam use

How to use it in an answer

  • Part A (6 marks): Cite for history: Bengal Regulation VII of 1793 made pleading a distinct profession.
  • Part B (16 marks): Use in history answers for the pre-Independence period and the later entry of women into the profession by statute.
  • Key line for exam: "The first Regulation dealing with this matter was Regulation VII of 1793" (para 10).

Cite this

Citation

In re Regina Guha 35 Ind Cas 925

Reported: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1090509/. This is an educational summary, not the judgment itself. Cite the reported version in professional or academic work.