Judgment

1. Mr. Vishnu Kerikar, Deputy Manager, Finance & MS claims to be the power of attorney holder of the petitioner-Goa Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Limited in this case. He wishes to argue the case personally on behalf of the petitioner.

2. Section 33 of the Advocates Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act') states as follows:

"33. Advocates alone entitled to practise - Except as otherwise provided in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force, no person shall, on or after the appointed day, be entitled to practise in any court or before any authority or person unless he is enrolled as an advocate under this Act."

3. A perusal of the above provision shows that only a person who is enrolled as an advocate can practice in a court, except where otherwise provided by law. This is also evident from Section 29 of the Act.

4. A natural person can, of course, appear in person and argue his own case personally but he cannot give a power of attorney to anyone other than a person who is enrolled as an advocate to appear on his behalf. To hold otherwise would be to defeat the provisions of the Advocates Act.

5. Section 32 of the Act, however, vests discretion in t