About All Assam Lawyers' Association

At the peak of the Assam Agitation the General Secretary of the Lawyers Association Guwahati, Shri Satyen Prasad Deka and Habibur Rahman who were the joint Secretaries of the Guwahati Lawyers' Association led by the President Late Naranarayan Goswami. Shri Goswami was prominent freedom fighter and a Member of the Legislative Assembly, representing the Sarthebari Constituency, took the initiative to bring together all the Lawyers' Associations of Assam to form the All Assam Lawyers' Association on the 4th of May, 1980. Other prominent lawyers who were part of the movement at it's inception were, Late Arun Bordoloi, Shri Ramesh Chandra Choudhury, Shri Tarun Phukan, Abhoy Das and Chandradhar Goswami ,Shri Bhubaneswar Kalita, Shri Paramananda Choudhury, Rohini Kumar Das, Shri Bhargav Choudhury and Shri Krishna Dewan (Guwahati Lawyers' Association), Shri N.I. Choudhury (Dhubri Lawyers' Association), Shri Ajit Borpujari (Sibasagar Lawyers' Association), Shri Ranjit Borthakur (Tinsukia Lawyers Association), Lakshmi Tamuli (Golaghat Lawyers Association). The presence of the new Lawyers' body was reinforced in popular perception when it decided to come out on the street on the 16th of December 1980 in support of the Anti-Foreigners Movement. The first general convention of the Association was convened on the 18th and 19th of April, 1981 which was attended by a host of Judges and lawyers from other regions of India. The first Executive Committee of this new Association was formed as an outcome of this Convention and eminent lawyer Shri Ramesh Choudhury was its first President and Shri S.P. Deka its first General Secretary. The first Annual Conference of the Association was held at Nowgaon at the initiative of the Nagaon Lawyers Association which was attended by eminent lawyers like Ram Jethmalani and Shri Dinesh Goswami. The Association has its meetings in different parts of Assam, viz Tezpur, Tinsukia, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Bongaigaon, Guwahati, Nowgaon. It sent a delegation of Senior advocates to meet the political leaders at Delhi and appraised them of the purpose and object of the Movement. As the movement became violent, a term of Lawyers from all Assam Lawyers Association rushed on a goodwill mission to different parts of Assam and took prompt steps to extend legal aid to the victims of violence. Under the inspiration and initiative of the Association, lawyers also started free legal aid campaign. In theface of violence, the All Assam lawyers Association initiated peace Missions which travelled widely in the 1990s in disturbed areas of the state such as Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Nalbari, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia to restore peace and harmony among various ethnic groups living in Assam. A delegation of all Assam Lawyers Association visited Nagaon District in 1992 to bring peace after the outbreak of communal riots. A similar initiative was taken by all Assam lawyers Association for the violence hit areas of Karbi Anglong District in 2001 assisted by the Diphu Lawyers Association and Darrang and Udalguri in 2008. The AALA also opposed the continuance of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958, in the region and had submitted a memorandum to the Chairman of the AFSPA Review Committee Protesting against the imposition of the draconian law in Assam in 2004-2005. The Association is housed in its own building constructed over a plot of land allotted by the Government to the Association near the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup (M). The AALA has its members in all parts of the state, the district and sub divisional town Bar Associations being affiliated to it.

The Advocates' Association, Guwahati is the other lawyers' body that came to life in 1987. There was no political movement to justify its formation unlike the other lawyers Associations. In 1987, when the Lawyers Association Guwahati, denied membership to a number of retired employees who had secured licence of practice from the Bar Council of India, Guwahati Branch, fifteen such applicants from separate Lawyers' Association and registered it as Advocate's Association, Guwahati. Since inception this Association has faced great hardships in finding accommodation for its members, however despite this hardship, the membership of the Association has steadily increased.From only fifteen members at the time of its inception, its current membership is more than thousand. In 1994, the Advocates' Association gained affiliation with the All Assam Lawyers Association.

Apart from the Lawyers Association based at Guwahati, the Lawyers had also organized themselves at the district and old sub-divisional towns. The administrative reorganization of Assam from time to time, both in the colonial and post-colonial period have facilitated the decentralization of the Judiciary. It has, in turn, led to the emergence of local Bar Association. These local Bar Associations, as collective bodies had emerged as platforms for the organization of local lawyers. It is through theseAssociations that the lawyers solidarity have been greatly strengthened. Each of the District Bar Associations that thrive at the sub-divisional levels. The history of the Bar Associations in Assam is an integral part of the history of Judicialdecentralization. Each of them has their unique heritage which could collectively narrate the history of advocacy and legal profession in Assam.

In 1838, Lakhimpur came under the control of the English East India Company along with Sibsagar, as the company took over the administration of Upper Assam from the native Ahom Ruler. But it took some times for colonial Judicial administration to take it's root in Lakhimpur as there was a dearth of people trained in the British system of Law. The administration was on the lookout for a person who would be able to discharge the duties of a defence counsel to defend the accused in new legal system. The search ended with Muktinath Chakravorty who was engaged as a defence counsel on the basis of some knowledge of English. He soon became a vakil of repute by studying the law books in English. It is learnt that he joined as a defence lawyer at Lakhimpur around 1897 and thus became the first lawyer at Lakhimpur. In 1899, one Ashwini Kumar Sarkar, a Mukhtear from East Bengal joined as a criminal lawyer at Lakhimpur. He was followed by one Keshab Lal Sarkar in 1901. As there was no other lawyer at Lakhimpur, they were also allowed by the Government to practice in civil law. The first lawyer with a graduate degree in law was Late Sarveswar Barua. He joined at lakhimpur after practicing law for some time at Tezpur. The Lakhimpur Bar Association was established on his initiative. Incidentally he was also the grandson of Muktinath Chakravorty. While Shri Sarveswar was the first president of the Lakhimpur Bar Association, Shri Aswini Sarkar was its first Secretary. Sarveswar Barua had a long innings as a lawyer and practiced more than fifty years. He was a public spirited man and was also a member of the Assam Legislative Assembly. Some of the other prominent members of the Bar who had a long practice and have completed more than fifty years of practice are Shri Kushram Bora, Shri Gopal Singh Hohain Borua, Shri Hafizur Rahman Barua, Shri Prafulla Kumar Boruwa and Shri Sudhangshu Kumar Sarkar.

The Biswanath Chariali Bar Association was formed in 1986 when the sub Divisional Judicial Court started functioning at Biswanath Chariali of the Biswanath Sub-division of the Sonitpur District. On it's formation, twenty two members enrolled themselves as members of the Bar Association. The establishment of the Jonai Bar Association, though related to the establishment of the court of the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate Court at Jonai, came to materialize only in 2005. The Jonai-Tribal Belt Area was declared a Sub-division in 1979 and the court of the Sub-divisional Magistrate was set up only 1986, the court being inaugurated by the Hon'ble Chief Justice, Mr. Justice K.N. Saikia. But for a long period of about twenty years after the establishment of this court, the Bar could not organized itself into an Association. The Association came about only in 2006, with Mr, Pabitra Kumar Knowar, Mr. Kshirod Saikia, Mr. Bhupen Ch. Pegu, Mr. Ram Krishna Chutia and Mrs. Jupitara Das as members. But prominent advocates of the area, including some who became members of the Judiciary were practicing at the Jonai Court before the Bar Association came to be established. Mr. Tarakeswar Lohar, who became the District and Session Judge of Goalghat Practised at the Jonai Court. Other prominent advocates who practised at the Court were Mr. Bombeswar Gogoi, Mr. Debashish Chakravary and Pabitra Kumar Konwar and Mr. Bhupen Chandra Pegu. Shri Pabitra Kumar Kowar was the founder president of the Association but resigned his post in 2007 due to old age and was followed by Shri Kshirod Saikia. Shri Bhupen Pegu was the founder Secretary of the Bar Association and continues to hold the post since. The Building of the Bar Association was constructed over a plot of land within the Court premises. Nineteen advocates had applied for membership to the Jonai Bar Association, out of which thirteen are in active practice.

The Dhemaji District Bar Association was originally named as The Dhemaji Bar Association. It was originally formed after Dhemaji was made a civil sub-division of present Lakhimpur after the bifurcation of the old Lakhimpur district into Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur Districts. The first president of the Dhemaji Bar Association was Shri Mohon Chandra Bora and the members were Late Lakhyanath Doley, Late Mohan Bora, Shri Kamal Ch. Mussong, Shri Narendra nath Gohain, Shri Lalit Chandra Pegu and Shri Keshab Chandra Sonowal. The Dhemaji Bar association was upgraded to the Dhemaji District Bar association in 1989 when Dhemaji was made a District. The present strength of the Association is more than hundred. The Sub- Divisional Judicial Magistrates Court at Dhakuakhana Court was inaugurated on the 2nd of April 2002 by the then Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court. Since the creation of the Dhakuwakhana Subdivision in 1989, the administrative officers also discharged judicial function. Pradip Agarwala, Bulumoni Dutta Gogoi and Subham Baruah were three of the senior most advocates of the area. Presently, there are about 26 lawyers as members of the Dhakuwakhana Bar Association. The Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class was set up at Jonai in June 1982. It was upgraded to the court of the Sub- Divisional Judicial Magistrate on the 26th of December 1986 some of the prominent members of the legal fraternity at Jonai included Late Pabitra lKonwar, Shri Khirod Saikia, Shri Bambeswar Baruah and Shri Debashish Chakraborty.

The foundation of the Tinsukia Bar was coterminous with the inauguration of the Tinsukia Subdivision. The foundation of the Tinsukia Subdivision on the 26th of January in 1973 encouraged the lawyers of the Tinsukia area practicing at the Dibrugarh Court to organize a meeting in the chamber of the Tinsukia Chamber of Commerce. The meeting which was attended by Shri B. Singh, B.L. Bhargav, G.P. Bhawmik, O.P. Modi, H.P. Jalan, K. Agarwal, H.C. Rajkhowa, B.L. Agarwal and A. Handique unanimously resolved to form the Bar Association at Tinsukia. In order to implement the decision, the meeting constituted a committee with Shri B.L. Bhargav as convenor. Finally, the Tinsukia Bar Association was formed with Shri Balbir Singh Bawa as the first president and Shri Ranjit Borthakur was the secretary. On the 15th of August, the office of the Bar Association was inaugurated at the house of Shri Ranjit Borthakur at dohotia Chuk at Tinsukia Town. Due to the pressure exerted by the Bar Association, the courts of the sub Divisional Magistrate and Judicial Magistrate were opened in a makeshift accommodation within the Tinsukia Industrial Estate. By August 1985, a Circuit court of the District and Sessions Judge began to visit Tinsukia. Presently, there is a District and Sessions Judges court at Tinsukia and two sub Divisional Judges courts at Margherita and Sadiya. The office of the Bar Association was also shifted to a shed of the Industrial Estate.

The Nagaon Bar is one of the oldest Bar Associations of the Assam. Legal practice started in Nagaon with the shifting of the District Headquarters to Nagaon in 1839. Initially the legal practitioners who practiced at Nagaon were not local to the area. In 1873, the pleaders and Mukhtears of Nagaon contributed rupees one hundred and twelve annas for the foundation of the Bar Library. The names of some of the contributors that have come down to us over time are Adiram Ukil, Pitram Ukil, Krishnadev Goswami, Raghunath Das and Lakhiram Das. At the time of the foundation of the Bar Library, there were only 10 members. The ten members of the Bar were Adiram Ukil, Pitram Ukil, Krishnadev Goswami, Raghunath Das, Lakhiram Das, Kalikrishna Das, Ram Sundar Dey, Munshi Farmud Ali, Janaki Nath Sen and Gopal Chandra Borah. The practice of these legal practitioners were confined to the court of the Subordinate Judge and the Munsiff. One of the earliest lawyers to have come from East Bengal and practise at the Nagaon Court was Shri Ram Durlav Majumdar. He was a law graduate. Bishnu Charan Boro was the First Assamese law graduate to join practice at the Nagaon Bar. Other lawyers contemporary with him were Khan Bahadur Naruddin Ahmed, Shri Sibdeva Goswami, Shri Bidyadhar Baruah and Khanb Bahadur Kutubdin Ahmed, Shri Bidyadhar Baruah was the first President of the Nagaon Bar Association after the adoption of a written Constitution. Some of the prominent members of the Association were Khan Bahadur Nuruddin Ahmed, Shri Milideva Goswami, Shri Prafulla Bhuyan and Mahammad Rafique. A thatched house with a cemented floor constructed in 1850 within the Deputy Commissioner's Office housed the Lawyers. This house was dismantled in 1925 and an Assam Type House was constructed at the same place. As the number of lawyers grew an RCC Building was constructed under the leadership of Shri Sarat Chandra Goswami, who was the secretary of the Bar Association and Shri Hem Kanta Sharma.

The Morigaon Bar Association was established in 1972, the founder President being Mr. Nuruddin Ahmed and Mr. Bhabendra Nath Barkataki was the Secretary. The membership of the Association was only twelve at its inception. With the expansion of the legal profession, the membership now is over 150. Some of the prominent lawyers of the Association are Mr. Nuruddin Ahmed, Mr. Ajijur Rahman, Mr. Abuddin Ahmed, Mr. Abdus Salam, Mr. Punaram Bora, Mr. Purnendu Bikash Dey, Mr. Gupendra Shing Deka, Mr. Baneswar Mahanta, Mr. Mahen Chandra Sarkar and Mr. Hemram Das. The present president of the Association is Mr. Aminul Hoque and Mr. Punaram Bora is it's Secretary. The Diphu Bar association was established in 1960 with late Amaresh Nandi as the president. Besides Late Nandi, there were three other members. The members of the Diphu Bat at its inception were late Jogen Goswami, Late R.K. Nath and Shri P.K. Saikia. The Diphu Bar Association and has played a proactive role to bring peace and amity when inter community conflicts broke out in Karbi Anglong.

With the formation of the Kokrajhar Subdivision, the Kokrajhar Bar Association was formed in 1956. At its inception, the members were very few. Some of the prominent founder members were Late Durga Moon Ghose, Dharma Kakati, Hem Chanbdra Das, Suresh Biswas, Kulada Bhowmik, Akhil Chandra Bagchi, Jyotish Dey, Lalit Mohan Deb and Gopal Das. A number of mukhtears used to practise in the local court, prominent being Satish Chandra Purkayastha and Hem Chadra Das. Other prominent members who joined the Bar were ShriNarayan Das who was from Barpeta district and Shri Bimal Kumar Dutta and Shri Gopal Chandra Das. Shri Khargeswar Brahma was the first member of the Bar from the Bodo community. He joined the Bar in 1971. He was followed by Shri Ram Nath Narzary in 1973. The Kokrajhar had very few members till 1976. With Kokrajhar being upgraded to a district in 1983, the Kokrajhar district Bar Association was formed. The District and Session Judge's Court started functioning from the 24th of May 1986, when the court was inaugurated by the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court . Over the years members of the Bar have also been placed in the Judicial Service. Shri Santosh Adhikary, Shri Prashanta Kumar Brahma, Shri Rukendra Nath Brahma and Shri Babul Sutradhar are some of the members of the Bar who are members of the judiciary at different levels.

The Barpeta Bar Association is one of the oldest among the District Bar Associations of Assam. It was founded in 1841 and was set up near the court campus some of the earliest lawyers were Late Balaram Das, Late Juro Manik Pathak, Late Ram Prashad, Late Lohit Chandra Nayak, (MLC) Late Kamal Kanta Das, late Akhil Ram Das, Late Garga Narayan Choudhury, Late Purna Narayan Chanda and Late Umesh Chandra Som. The Bar Association also could creditably mention the names of Late Jadab Chandra Das ( Senior), Late Harendra Nath Sharma, Late Dhani Ram Talukdar (MLA), Late Madhusudan Das (MLA), Late Jadab Chandra Das ( Junior), Late Abdil Rouf, Late Mohendra Mohan Choudhury (former Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court), Late Kameswar Das (former Chairman, APSC), Late Sadananda Das, Late Ram Charan Medhi, Late Janaki Sharma, Late Sonapati Deva Sharma, Late Atowar Rahman (Minister ,Assam) Taijuddin Ahmed (MLA), and Late Chidananda Das (Former Registrar, Guwahati University) who were some of the early members of the Association. Some of the other prominent members of the Association were Late Girish Chandra Choudhury, Late Bangshi Dhar Choudhury, Late Padma Nath Barua, Late Hem Chandra Medhi, Late Mokhtar Ali, Late Danesh Ali Ahmed (MLA), Later Mahammad Ali, Late Mazibar Rahman, Late Upendra Nath Das, Late Bhumi Dhar Das, Late Pran Gopal Das, Late Promod Kumar Choudhury. The present strength of the Bar is 546. The members of the Association have continued the tradition of public service and the leadership has come from people like Shri Ismail Hussain Khan, Shri Devid Ledger, Shri Abdul Latif, Shri Sirajul Haque, Shri Amal Kumar Barua, Shri Ibrahim Ali, Shri Janaranjan Das, Shri Dharanidhar Das, Syed Khairul Islam, Md. Ali Akbar Khan Shri Khanandakar Noor Ahmed, Smti Padmini Medhi Smti Priti Das and Smti Shila Dey.

The Dhubri bar Association is one of the oldest Bar Association of Assam. It was established in 1880. Many prominent lawyers were members of the Bar. Some of the prominent members of the bar who have more than fifty years of practise are Shri Al Hai, Easin Ali Khandakar, Shri Nani Kumar Baruah and Shri Prohasindu Chakraborty.

The Goalpara Bar is another bar that traces its foundation to the early years of the colonial rule. The Goalpara Lawyers Association was founded in 1828. Goalpara was then underBengal and the district headquarters of the Goalpara District. After some time, though the headquarters of the district was transferred to Dhubri, as the Zamindars refused to part with land for the establishment of the Courts, Goalpara remained as a Sub-divisional headquater under Dhubri. The bar was established at the same time. With the local lawyers few in numbers, and the laws of Bengal holding sway in Goalpara, Lawyers from Bengal has a good practice at Goalpara Court. There were some Mukhtears who developed a very good practice at Goalpara. The names of Kamaleshwar Nath, Hari Nath and Dhirendra Mohan Sengupta popularly Known as Dhiren Babu have survived the ravages of time. In course of time local lawyers also enrolled themselves and developed a flourishing practice. Shri Prasanna Lal Ghosh was the first local law graduate to have joined the bar. Other prominent local lawyers include Bipin Chandra Ghosh, Khan Bahadur Mizanur Rahman, Shri Surendra Mohon Sengupta, Charu Mohon Das and Rajani Kanta Das. Lawyers from Bengal like Khirod Mohon Sen, Priya Kumar Guharoy, Kamakhya Charan Sen, Jagadish Sanyal, Ramesh Bhaduri, Khagendra Lal Kar, Jyotirmoy Ray, Kulada Lahiri and Bipin Ghosh also practiced at Goalpara Court. According to Shri Guru Charan Das, when he joined the profession in 1962, there were only twelve Pleaders and two Advocates. Compared to the other Bar Associations, the Bilasipara Bar Association is it's recent origin. The Association was established on the 10th of April 1996 by four members. The initial members were Late Dhiren Chandra Nath, Mr Rabiul Islam, Mr, Abdul Manan Sarkar and Mr. Sujit Kumar Saha. While Mr Dhiren Chandra became its first president, Mr. Rabiul Islam was the first secretary. The two others became of the Executive Committee. In 1996, Bilasipara had only the Sub Divisional Magistrate's Court and a few Executive Courts. The Bar Association was also handicapped by acute shortage of funds. And founder members had to run the Association with their own contribution. But the members were persistent and got the Government of Assam to expand judicial officers to Bilasipara Sub-division. The Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate's Court along with the court of the Munsiff cum Judicial Magistrate was opened on September 2002. A constitution of the Association was framed in 2008 by a committee headed by Mr. Abdul Manan Sarkar and the same was approved in a general meeting of the Association on 22 February 2008.

The establishment of the Bongaigaon Bar Association was almost co-terminus with the foundation of the court of the Judicial Magistrate, First Class, at Bongaigaon in 1981. Bongaigaon was originally a part of the undivided Goalpara district as a small town located within the Boitamari Revenue Circle. Considering its commercial importance and the number of litigations and criminal cases emerging form that area, the Government with the concurrence of the Gauhati High Court decided to set up a First Class Magistrate's Court at Bongaigaon to dispense Criminal Justice. The court was inaugurated on the 25th of September by the Chief Justice. Shri Kamal Kumar Das was appointed as the first judicial Magistrate, first class, at Bongaigaon. The territorial jurisdiction of the court was wide, covering Bongaigaon, Dhaligaon, Sidli, Abhayapuri, Bijni and Jogighopa Police Stations. Immediately after the inauguration of the Court of the First Class Judicial Magistrate, the Bongaigaon Lawyers Association was formed under the president ship of Shri S.N. Brohmo Choudhuty and Md. Hussain Ali as the secretary. Sri Bijoy Choudhury, Md Kasem Ali, Shri Paresh Chandra das, Shri P.C. Bhowal, Smti. Jayshree Baruah, Shri A.K. Roy, Shti Dilip Kumar Das and Shri Akmal Hussain were members of the Association at the time of its establishment. Subsequently, a court of Munsiff was also opened at Bongaigaon. With the creation of Bongaigaon District, the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate was opened at Bongaigaon. The Lawyer's Association was pioneering in efforts to the opening of courts in Bongaigaon and the opening of the Bongaigaon Law College. Shri Brohmo Choudhury was the first president of the Association and Hussain Ali its First Secretary. In 1982 there were only eight members in the Association which rose to ten by 1988.

The Nalbari Bar Association or the Nalbari Ukil Sangstha was established in 1955,56at the initiative of Seven Advocates under the leadership of Shri Ananta Nath Devsharma. Though there was no Bar library as such and the Bar Association was housed at the rented house residence of Late Surya Kumar Choudhury. Late Pratap Chandra Talukdar and Late Ananta Nath Dev Sharma were elected as the first President and First Secretary of the Association. The Total membership during its inception was only seven. The founding of the organizations were Late Pratap Chandra Talukdar, Late Ananta Nath Dev Sharma, Late Krishna Prasad Das, Late Kanak Chandra Mazumder, Late Harish Chandra Deka Baruah, Late Tarun Sen Deka and Late Hari Charan Pathak. In 1961, with the joining of Late Prafulla Kumar Goswami, Late Surya Kumar Choudhury and Late Safed Ali, the total membership of the Association made sustained demands to make Nalbari into a subdivision. In response to the demand, Nalbari was upgraded to a Subdivision in 1967 and the Office of the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate was established. It is on the demands of the Bar Association that the District Judges Court was inaugurated on the 11th of April, 1986.

The foundation of the Bar Association at Rangia was also started with the establishment of the Court of the First Class Judicial Magistrate there. The Rangia Bar was established with Shri Tarun Sinha Lahkar and Shri Laksheswar Talukdar as the members with the creation of the Rangia Sub-division and the establishment of the court of Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate and the Masiff's Court in 1983, legal practice received a boost. The Rangia Lawyers' Association with only six members was formed with Shri Golap Chandra Sharma Doloi as president and Shri Tarun Singha Lahkar as General Secretary.

The foundation of the Sibsagar Bar was in 1880. As there it has not been possible to locate any definite document on its foundation, the reconstruction of its history is traced through the narratives of its members. Sahitya Rathi Laxmi Nath Bezbaruah mentioned in his autobiography that his father and his contemporaries who were admitted into legal practice wasadmitted without any formal legal education. Late Akshay Kumar Ghosh, who was appointed the Government Pleader at that time with his office at Sibsagar, was enjoined to impart training to students appearing in the Pleadership examination of the Calcutta University. Four of his students were successful in the examinations-Late Kali Prasad Chaliha and Khagendra Nath Sharma of the Sibsagar Bar and Late Derajuddin Ahmed and Keramat Ali of the Jorhat Bar. Sibsagar Bar had immense contribution to the anti-colonial struggle and many of it's members were imprisoned for their involvement in the struggle. The members were also at the forefront of most of the movements that were launched after independence of the country in Assam. They actively participated in the Refinery Movement, State Language Movement, the Medium of Instruction Movement, Anti-Foreigners Movement and also launched humanitarian drives during natural calamities such as earthquakes and floods.

The history of the Jorhat Bar Association could be traced to the foundation of the Munsiff's Court at Jorhat, a prominent Urbansettlement and a capital town during the Ahom Rule. The Bar was established and started functioning from a non RCC House located on the western side of the Rajmaw Pukhuri. Only three lawyers were its, members. The first three members were Gangadhar Sharma, Bhramananda Dutta and Durgadhar Barua. With the expansion of the judicial infrastructure at Jorhat, the membership of the Bar began to increase. The Bar had a number of freedom fighters as its illustrations members. Late Krishna Sharma was its fifteenth Member, having joined the Associations in 1917. Other prominent members of the Bar were Shri Debi Charan Baruah, Shri Durgadhar Baruah, Shri Gopinath Bordoloi, Shri Surendra Nath Buragohain, Shri Kuladhar Chaliha, Shri Promode Kishore Roy, Shri Derajuddin Ahmed, Shri Debeswar Sharma, Shri Purnananda Pathak, Shri Gunjanan Baruah, Shri Golak Chandra Baruah and Shri Debi Charan Baruah. Since 1912, the Courts in Jorhat came to function from the Deputy Commissioner's building. The Bar also Shifted itself to the A.T. Road, opposite the Deputy Commissioner's building. The Government of Assam gave 1 Bigha 4 Katha and 19 Lechas of land to the Association to construct its buildingand an Assam Type building was constructed has been expanded. The present membership of the Association is over 350.

The Bar at Golaghat is also one of the oldest Bar of its region. There was only one Sub-Divisional court at Golaghat, as Golaghat was a part of undivided Sibasagar District. Some of the earliest legal practitioner-members of the Bar were Shri Kamaleshwar Sharma, Shri Kiran Nath Dey, Shri Paramananda Dutta, Shri Tara Prasad Baruah and Shri Daleshwar Dutta with the constitution of the Golaghat District with the two subdivisions of Bokaghat and Sarupathar, the practice has expanded and the present membership is over 300 members.

The foundation of the Tezpur Bar was laid in 1859 with Late Nabin Chandra Bose and Late Ram Chandra Sen starting their practice at the Tezpur Court. The enrolment of four more pleaders between 1869 and 1888 increased the membership of the Association. By 1898, the strength of the Association increased to 14 with the joining of eight more Pleaders to the Bar between 1889 and 1898. The membership of the Bar began to gradually increase and in two decades since 1898, twelve new members joined the Bar including the famous Assamese literature Shri Lambodar Borah and social activist Late Bodh Nath Patangia. By the third decade of the twentieth century, eleven new members joined the Bar which included Ananda Kumar Padmapati in 1922 and Deshapran Lakshmidhar Sharmah in 1927. Between 1929 and 1938 twenty six new members joined the Bar including Shri B.N. Dey, Sudhir Bagchi, Dulal Chandra Bhattacharya, Bijoy Chandra Bhagawati, P.K. Sharmah,M.K. Das and K.P. Tripathy. In the next decade fourteen members joined the Bar including Shri S.C. Ganguly, K.P. Agarwala, Manindra Chandra Ganguly, Jogendra Chandra Bhattarcharjee, Dugdha Nath Goswami and Bibhuti Bhushan Chakraborty. The Tezpur Bar had contributed in its own unique ways to the anti-colonial struggle. Shri Narendra Chandra Ganguly used to defend the freedom fighters in the Judge's Court without any fees. He was the first lawyer to wear a khadi gown in the court and demonstrate solidarity with the freedom struggle. The other freedom fighter of eminence from the Bar was Shri Uday Bhagawati. After independence, there has been gradual expansion of the Bar with the enrolment of more than two hundred new members between 1947 and 1998. The Bar had an illustrious past and celebrated its centenary in the year 2000.

The Mangaldoi Bar association was established on the 29th of April, 1925 by six lawyers, viz, Shri Sukhlal Ghosh, Shri Tapeshwar Sharma, Shri Purnananda Rajkhowa, Shri Hiralal Bose, Shri Kumud Ram Bora and Shri Ratneshwar Dasgupta, all of whom joined the profession in 1916. A constitution was written and came into force from the 12th of November 1925. Though the practice of trying the accused at Darrang was initiated since 1839 itself, the lawyers and Moktars were not organized into any Association. Many of the legal practitioners who practiced in Darrang Court, including Mangaldoi were not Degree holders and had to obtain special permission to practice in civil cases. When the BL course was started in the Earl Law College, many graduate lawyers joined practice at Darrang. The first lady advocate came to join practice and the Association only in 1984. Some of the prominent members of the Association were Bhogram Patowary, Mukti Nath Goswami, Naranath Rajkhowa, Nabin Sharma, Purandar Ram Sharma, Rameshwar Sharma, Prabhat Ch, Ghosh, Nilokanta Choudhury, Kartik Ch. Baruah and Badruddin Ahmed. There was neither any sitting hall nor any library in the initial years. It was only 1929, that a general rest room was constructed at the cost for the construction being borne by one Shri Jog Bandhu Das. The Bar Association later constructed the RCC Building to seat the Lawyers and house the Association. The Mangaldoi Bar Association many members of the Association came to become members of the Judiciary in Assam.

The Silchar Bar came into existence in 1874 when the district of Cachar was transferred to the Chief Commissionership of Assam. The founding member of the Bar were Shri Ram Gobindo Deb and Shri Sambhu Nath Sen. At that time the Deputy commissioner used to grant the pleadership or the permission for practice to the Pleaders after an informal test of respectability and ability. The persons so selected as Pleaders appeared before the Deputy Commissioner in Civil, Criminal and revenue matters. When the court of Munsiff was established at Silchar, Shri Ram Gobinda Deb was appointed Extra Assistant Commissioner vested with the powers of the Munsiff. Membership of the Bar gradually grew and pleadership attracted the graduates from Cachar and its neighbouring district of Sylhet. By 1990 members in the Bar including Rai Bahadur Hari Charan Das, B.L. Government pleader, Shri Abanti Nath Dutta, B.L., Shri Kamini Kumar Chanda, MA, BL, Shri Mahesh Ranjan Dutta, Shri Kali Mohon Deb, BL and Shri Radha Nath Deb, BL. Chandra NathNandi was the first Government Pleader at Silchar and was the first lawyer in Cachar for practice.Till 1910, the Bar Association was housed in a temporary shed near its present location at Sadar Ghat. A representation was made to the Government for the grant of a permanent site for housing the Association at Public cost. As the membership increased, the Building had to be extended, the members raising loan by pledging personal credit. The Bar library was set up in 1908 on the suggestion and help of Rai Bahadur Janaki Nath Das, who was then the Sadar Munsiff at Silchar. The Silchar Bar was also at the forefront of the anti-colonial struggle and was affiliated to the provincial congress committee of Bengal for electing delegates to the Congress Sessions. At the time of Partition in 1947, the Bar had about 29 Members. The Membership of the Bar registered a great increase after partition. A Large number of displaced persons came to Cachar and joined the Bar to start legal practice.

District Bar Association, Karimganj is the oldest Bar of the Karimganj District and one of the oldest Bar Associations in the state of Assam. The District Bar Association, Karimganj is situated adjacent to the Court compound of the District & Sessions Judge, Karimganj. The Munsiff Court for this part of this District of Sylhet of undivided India was formerly situated at Latu. Sometimes after the "Sepoy Mutiny", for better administrative accommodation, the Munsiff Court was shifted to it's present site near Kushiara at the Indo-Bangladesh Border and the Pleader's Bar was established which was subsequently renamed as District Bar Association, Karimganj.

The Hailakandi Bar association is established in the compound of District & Sessions Judge Court, Hailakandhi. It was adopted on 05.12.1978 and it came into force from the year 1st January 1979. In 1979, Shri J.M. Dhar (B.L) was the first president of the Hailakandi Bar Association. Shri A.R. Barbhuiya (L.L.B.) was the Secretary and Shri. U.K. Das (L.L.B) was the Asst. Secretary of the Hailakandi Bar Association. The Association enrols members twice in a year in the month of January and June. During 1979 there were total of 29 (Twenty-nine) members in the Hailakandi Bar Association.

The Lawyers of Assam have come a long way since the time they began to organize themselves as enterprising professional in the initial years of colonial rule. From a time when there was a dearth of trained legal professionals in Assam and Lawyers from the neighboring province of Bengal came over and developed a flourishing practice, now there are a number of lawyers who have moved from Assam to develop a successful legal practice in different courts of India. This process of outmigration started in the early 1950s at a very slow pace. The First group of such lawyers moved at Delhi. Mr. SK Nandy from Dhubri was the first lawyer to come and to settle down in Delhi in 1960's. He later became standing counsel for the Government of Assam. Prior to him, one Mr. Nauneet Lal (not from Assam) was the standing Counsel of the Government of Assam. Then in 1970's, Mr. N.R. Choudhary from karimganj, Mr. S.N. Choudhary from Tezpur, Mr. M.L. Lahoti from Shivsagar and Mr. Bed Brat Baruah from Golaghat came to practice in the Supreme Court of India, Mr. Bed Brat Baruah later became Minister in the Government of India, representing the Kaliabor constituency in the Fourth and Fifth Lok Sabha.

From 1980 onwards there has been steady flow of Lawyers from Assam primarily in the Supreme Court and, to some extent, in other Courts. Presently there are more than 100 advocates from Assam who are practicing in Delhi in different courts. Mr. Badar Durrez Ahmed and Mr. Hrishikesh Roy, both of whom started practice in Delhi, were later elevated to the Delhi High Court and to the Gauhati High Court in 2002 and 2006 respectively. Two senior advocates, namely, Mr. Prashanta Kumar Goswami and Mr. Kalyan Pathak who started their practice in Gauhati High Court, were appointed to the post of Additional Solicitor General of India in the Supreme Court.

Mr. Vijay Hansaria is the only lawyer from Assam who has been designated as a Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court in 2002. He was later elected as the Vice President of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 2005. Two judges of the Gauhati High Court, Viz. Justices K.N. Lahiri and T.N. Singh also began to practice at the Supreme Court after their retirement. But there was a long felt need for a platform for all the lawyers of Assam practicing in different courts in the National Capital Region of Delhi. This issue was a topic of animated discussions amongst the members of AALA on several occasions. In response to this demand, a constitution of All Assam Lawyers Associations- Delhi chapter was conceptualized in meeting held on 8th April 2012 in Assam Bhawan, New Delhi which was attended by Mr. Rohini Kumar Das, Working President, AALA and Mr. Apurba kumar Sarma, Chairman, Executive Committee, Bar Council of India. In the said meeting attended by the Advocates practicing in Delhi, it was decided to take necessary steps for formation of Delhi Chapter of AALA. Finally, on 25th August, 2012 All Assam Lawyer's Association-Delhi Chapter was constituted in a meeting held at Indian Law Institute, Delhi which presided over by Mr. Nilay Dutta, President AALA. Advocates domiciled in Assam and practicing in NCT of Delhi are its members. The said function was also attended by Hon'ble Mr. Justice AK Patnaik and Hon'ble Mr. Justice Madan B Lokur, Judges, Supreme Court of India, who was a former Judge and Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court respectively. In the meeting the office bearers of Delhi Chapter were elected. Shri Vijay Hansaria, was elected as the President and Shri Manish Goswami became the General Secretary. Helal Uddin Choudhury was elected as the organizing Secretary while the post of Treasurer went to Ratneswar Das. Ms. Madhusmita Bora was elected as the Joint Secretary and Sneha Kalita became the Asst. Treasurer. Eight Members were also elected to the Executive Committee. They included Abhijit Roy, Arijit Prasad, Azim Laskar, Bhanita Patowary, Deepika Ghatowar, Raka Phukan, Shahjahan Islam and Somiran Sarma.

The AALA-Delhi Chapter outlined the Following as some of their primary objects:

• 1. To take up issues concerning legal Fraternity of Assam at National Level.
• 2. To apply the knowledge of modern technology in the field of law in dispensation of justice by the courts of Assam in particular and the North East in General.
• 3. To establish and maintain a system for prompt and efficient legal advice/legal aid for persons of Assam in particular and the North East in General.
• 4. To promote the improvement of legal research and education in partnership and co-operation with other societies, institutions and organizations.
• 5. To promote the science of jurisprudence and to conduct research in legal and allied fields.
• 6. To further good relations and cooperation between the Bar and the Bench as also the Bar and the public.
• 7. To do all such things and to perform all such acts as may be necessary or proper for the achievement of any or all of the above objects.

It was in the meeting of the committee on the 25th of August,2012that the Delhi Chapter of AALA decided to organize a national level seminar in view of recent clashes. Accordingly,The Assam Conclave wasorganized on "Infiltration, Ethnic Divide and constitutional Solutions-Drawing a Roadmap for Peace in Assam" on 8th December, 2012 at Chinmaya Mission Auditorium, 89 Lodhi Estate, New Delhi.