Advocates in Delhi NCR for courts, tribunals and advice

What does B.K. Singh & Associates do?

We are advocates. We advise on legal problems, draft the documents that prevent or settle them, and appear in court and before tribunals when they cannot be settled. The work covers civil and property disputes, criminal cases from FIR to appeal, family and matrimonial matters, consumer complaints, bank recovery and SARFAESI cases, company and insolvency matters before the NCLT, service matters before the Central Administrative Tribunal, and environmental cases before the National Green Tribunal.

Two things shape how we do it. First, the practice is litigation-led. Even when you only need an agreement drafted or a notice answered, we write it with an eye on how it would read before a judge three years later. Second, the same two advocates stay with a matter from start to finish, so you do not have to explain your case to a new person at every stage.

Which legal problems do we handle?

The practice falls into four groups, and the site is arranged the same way. Our areas of practice explain each field of law: civil, criminal, family, consumer, corporate, cyber, banking, real estate, labour, arbitration, service law and Supreme Court work. The criminal law practice pages go deeper into particular agencies and offences, such as the ED, CBI, SFIO and NIA, cheque bounce, cyber crime and bail.

The consultancy services pages cover work that does not start in court: contracts, company and LLP registration, trademarks, insolvency advice and mediation. The court-by-court pages for Delhi are written for people who already know which forum they are in, whether the DRT, the NCLT, a family court or a consumer commission, and want to know how that forum actually runs.

If your problem touches more than one area, which is common, read the page closest to the document you have received. A maintenance petition, a cruelty complaint under sections 85 and 86 of the BNS (the old section 498A) and a domestic violence case often arrive together. So do a bank's SARFAESI notice, a DRT recovery application and a cheque bounce complaint. We deal with connected cases as one strategy, not as three separate files.

Which page fits your problem?

Start with the document in your hand. This table matches common situations to the forum that usually deals with them and the page that explains it.

The value limits in this table are general. Jurisdiction also depends on where the parties live, where a contract was made or performed and which police station registered a case, so check with us before filing anywhere.

I have received a legal notice, summons or court date. What should I do first?

Find the date. Every notice, summons and order has one, and it usually decides everything else. A legal notice under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act gives 15 days to pay. A SARFAESI demand notice under section 13(2) gives 60 days. A civil summons normally requires a written statement within 30 days. A police notice under section 35 of the BNSS tells you when to appear before the investigating officer. Write the date down and count backwards from it.

Then collect the papers before you call anyone, including us: the notice and its envelope (the postmark can matter), any agreement, the bank statement, earlier letters, emails or WhatsApp messages. Do not reply to the other side on your own. A casual message admitting part of a debt or apologising for a quarrel can be produced in court years later, and it cannot be taken back.

If the date is very close, say so in the first line of your message. A hearing tomorrow, an arrest, a raid or a bank taking physical possession needs action the same day if possible, and the online enquiry page explains how to flag it so it is seen at once.

Do I need a lawyer in Delhi, Noida or Ghaziabad?

You need a lawyer who appears in the court that has jurisdiction, and in Delhi NCR that depends on which side of a state border the case falls. Delhi cases go to the district court complexes at Tis Hazari, Patiala House, Karkardooma, Rohini, Saket, Dwarka and Rouse Avenue, with appeals and writs at the Delhi High Court. Noida cases go to the Gautam Buddh Nagar district court at Surajpur, Ghaziabad cases to the Ghaziabad district court, and appeals and writs from both to the Allahabad High Court.

We work from offices in Dwarka and Vaishali and appear across these courts. The border matters more than people expect. A flat in Noida, a buyer living in Delhi and a builder registered in Haryana can mean three possible forums, and the choice affects the RERA authority, the stamp duty, the court's workload and how long the case runs. We look at jurisdiction first, because a plaint filed in the wrong court can be returned after a year of hearings.

Tribunals are simpler on this point. The NCLAT, the DRAT, the NGT Principal Bench, the CAT Principal Bench and the NCDRC all sit in New Delhi, as do several NCLT benches, and cases from across North India come to them.

How we take on a new matter

Every matter goes through the same first stages, whether it is a bail application or a shareholder dispute.

1. You tell us what happened

   Call, send a WhatsApp message or use the enquiry form with a short account and the key date. Advocate Sadhna Singh usually takes this first contact. She will tell you which papers to send and whether something has to be done before a meeting can be arranged.

2. We check for conflicts

   Before reading your papers in detail, we confirm that we have not advised the other side in the same matter. If we have, we say so straight away and decline, because the professional rules do not allow an advocate who has advised one party to act for the other.

3. We read the papers

   We go through the documents before the meeting, not during it. The first consultation is then spent on your questions and on the gaps in the record, not on reading.

4. First consultation

   We meet at Dwarka or Vaishali, or by video. You get a plain view of where you stand, what the options are, roughly how long each takes and what could go wrong.

5. Written terms

   If you decide to go ahead, the scope of work and the fees are set out in writing, stage by stage. Court fees, stamp duty, typing, certified copies and travel are separate and listed.

6. Drafting and filing

   We draft, you check the facts, and nothing is filed until you have read it and signed where required. Filing in Delhi courts is now mostly electronic, and we deal with the defects the registry raises.

7. Hearings and updates

   After each hearing you get a short note: what happened, the next date and what is needed from you before it. You should not have to chase us for the order sheet.

When the matter ends, by judgment, settlement or withdrawal, we tell you about any appeal deadline and return your original documents against acknowledgment.

What happens at the first consultation?

The first consultation is where you find out whether you have a case worth pursuing, and what it will involve. Expect a lot of questions, some of them uncomfortable. We need to know the bad facts as well as the good ones, because the other side certainly will, and a case built on half the story tends to fall apart in cross-examination.

By the end you should know four things: which court or authority deals with your matter, what the realistic options are (including doing nothing, settling or waiting), the main risks, and the next step with its deadline. If we think the matter is not worth litigating, you will hear that at this meeting. If we need more documents before giving a proper view, we will list exactly which ones.

Consultations can be held at either office or by video call. Video works well for NRIs and clients outside Delhi NCR, provided the documents are sent in advance as clear scans or PDFs, not photographs taken at an angle on a kitchen table.

What should I bring to a first meeting with a lawyer?

Bring originals if you have them, and a set of photocopies we can keep. If you are not sure whether something is relevant, bring it anyway.

Which legal deadlines do people miss most often?

Missing a limitation period can end a good case before it starts. These are the time limits we most often see missed. Courts can condone delay in some of them, but only for a reason you can prove.

How are legal fees decided?

Fees are discussed at the first meeting and agreed in writing before work starts. We do not quote figures on this website, because a figure without the papers means little. A bail application in a Delhi Sessions Court and a bail application under the PMLA are both called bail, but the second involves different law, longer hearings and often the High Court.

We usually agree fees stage by stage (drafting and filing, then interim hearings, then evidence and arguments) rather than as one open-ended sum. That lets you decide at each stage whether to continue. Court fees, stamp duty, process fees, certified copies, typing and travel to courts outside Delhi NCR are separate, and we list them in advance. Where associate counsel or an Advocate-on-Record is needed, their fee is agreed with you before they are engaged.

Two honest notes on cost. A case that settles early costs a fraction of one that runs to final arguments, so the cheapest course is often a well-drafted notice or a sensible offer in mediation. And the longest part of most cases is not legal work but waiting for the next date, which no lawyer controls.

When is it better not to go to court?

More often than people think. Litigation in India is slow, and a suit that looks simple can spend years in a district court before the first appeal even begins. If the amount is small, the other side has no assets, or the relationship matters more than the money, a firm legal notice, a negotiated settlement or mediation usually does more for you than a decree you cannot execute.

Some routes are built for this. Commercial disputes of ₹3 lakh and above must first go to pre-institution mediation under section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, unless urgent interim relief is needed. Delhi's court-annexed mediation centres handle family and civil disputes referred by judges. A Lok Adalat settlement becomes a final award with no appeal. A cheque bounce case can be compounded under section 147 of the NI Act at any stage.

Some cases, on the other hand, should go to court immediately: an illegal dispossession, a bank about to auction your property, a recovery suit close to its limitation date, a real threat of arrest. Part of our job is telling these two kinds of case apart.

Who will actually work on my case?

Advocate B.K. Singh and Advocate Sadhna Singh work on every matter the firm takes. He decides the legal strategy, settles important drafts and argues contested hearings, particularly in the High Court, the Supreme Court and the tribunals. She is usually your first contact; she reads the papers, drafts pleadings, runs the matter from day to day and keeps you informed.

Clerks handle filing, inspection of records and certified copies, and research support helps with case law. Where a case needs a lawyer in another state, or an Advocate-on-Record to file in the Supreme Court, we work with associate counsel and tell you in advance who they are and what they will do. The our team page explains how the work is divided.

What if it is urgent: an arrest, a raid or a hearing tomorrow?

Tell us at once, by phone or WhatsApp, and lead with the urgency. In criminal matters the first hours count: whether to apply for anticipatory bail under section 482 of the BNSS, whether the offence is one where the police should issue a notice under section 35 instead of arresting, and what the person should and should not say when questioned. The Supreme Court's guidance in Arnesh Kumar v State of Bihar (2014) against unnecessary arrest in offences punishable with up to seven years is still the starting point for many of these conversations.

For civil emergencies, such as a demolition notice, a bank's possession date or someone building on your land, the remedy is usually an urgent application for an injunction or a stay, and the papers have to be prepared the same day. If you expect the other side to rush to court against you, a caveat under section 148A of the CPC makes sure you are heard before any order is passed; it stays in force for 90 days.

We cannot promise that an urgent matter will be listed the same day, because that depends on the court. What we can do is have the papers ready and filed quickly, with the urgency clearly explained to the registry.

Mistakes people make before they see a lawyer

• Signing without reading. Settlement deeds, police compromises and bank restructuring letters are often signed in a hurry. Some cannot be undone, and some give up rights you did not know you had.
• Replying to notices themselves. A reply written in anger can admit facts you would otherwise dispute. Silence is sometimes worse. A short, careful reply through an advocate is usually the right middle course.
• Keeping only WhatsApp copies. Electronic records are evidence, but a court will want a certificate under section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam before relying on them. Keep the original phone, export chats properly and delete nothing.
• Waiting for the other side to act first. Limitation runs whether or not anyone is talking. Negotiations do not stop the clock unless the other side acknowledges the debt in writing.
• Filing in more places than needed. Parallel complaints to the police, the consumer commission and a civil court on the same facts can weaken all of them. Pick the forum that gives the relief you actually want.
• Paying cash without receipts. In property and business disputes, cash payments are hard to prove and can raise tax questions. Bank transfers and written receipts save years of argument.

Can you help if I live outside Delhi or abroad?

Yes, for cases in Delhi NCR and in the tribunals that sit in New Delhi. Many clients live elsewhere: NRIs with property in Dwarka or Noida, families in Bihar or Uttarakhand with a case in a Delhi court, companies with a petition before the NCLT. Consultations take place by video, documents come by email or courier, and you attend court only when the law requires it, for instance to give evidence or to appear for the motions in a mutual consent divorce, which some family courts allow by video in suitable cases.

If you cannot come to India, a power of attorney lets a family member act for you in many civil and property matters. It has to be executed properly abroad, usually before an Indian embassy or consulate or before a notary with an apostille, and then presented here for stamp duty within the time allowed. Details of our offices and how we cover courts outside Delhi NCR are on the offices page.

Is what I tell a lawyer confidential?

Yes. Communications between you and your advocate made for the purpose of legal advice are protected from disclosure by law, and the professional rules forbid us from using them against you. That protection has been carried from the old Indian Evidence Act into the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023. Inside the firm, only the people working on your matter see your papers.

This website is information, not advice, and reading it does not make you our client. Under Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules, advocates may not advertise or solicit work, so you will find no testimonials, success figures or claims about results here. The disclaimer explains this in more detail. An advocate-client relationship begins only when we have agreed in writing to act for you.

What to do this week

If you are reading this because something has happened, do three things this week. Find every date on every paper and put them in one list. Gather the documents into one folder, in date order, with copies. Write a one-page account of what happened, in your own words, with names and dates. That single page saves more time at a first meeting than anything else you can bring.

Then get in touch through the enquiry page or by phone, and mention the nearest date first. If it turns out that your matter does not need a lawyer at all, we will tell you that too.