The Office of the District & Sessions Judge, S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali) has invited applications for empanelment of four Counsellors for the Counselling Centre attached to the Family Courts of the Sessions Division. Applications must reach the Judicial Courts Complex, Sector 76, Mohali by 5:00 PM on 30 September 2026, in the prescribed proforma, offline only.
Two things about this notice are being reported wrongly almost everywhere, and both of them decide whether you are eligible.
First: 35 is a minimum age, not a maximum. The notice says the candidate must have “attained the age of thirty five years” as on 01.01.2026. There is no upper age limit anywhere in the notice. Aggregator sites have already begun printing “Maximum age: 35 years” against the identical Amritsar notice, which is simply wrong and will turn away exactly the candidates the rule is designed to attract.
Second: a law graduate qualifies. The qualification clause reads “preferably with Social Science/Sociology, Psychology, Clinical Psychiatry as one of the subjects or law”. This is not a psychology-only post.
At a glance
| Issuing authority | District & Sessions Judge, S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali) |
| Engagement | Empanelment as Counsellor, Counselling Centre with the Family Courts, S.A.S. Nagar Sessions Division |
| Posts | 4 (four) — liable to increase or decrease |
| Qualification | Graduate degree of a recognised University, preferably with Social Science / Sociology / Psychology / Clinical Psychiatry as one of the subjects or law |
| Experience | At least two years in social work or welfare, or associated with field work, research or teaching in a Government Department, College, University or similar academic institute, in the areas of welfare of family or problems of women and children |
| Age | Must have attained 35 years as on 01.01.2026 — no upper limit stated |
| Term | Three years, or as directed by the High Court · purely on a per-sitting basis |
| Honorarium | ₹600 per sitting per case, maximum five sittings · ₹7,000 for a reconciled case |
| Mode | Offline only, on the prescribed proforma, by post or by hand |
| Deadline | 30 September 2026, before 5:00 PM |
| Address | Office of the District & Sessions Judge, Judicial Courts Complex, Sector 76, S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali) – 160071 |
| Official page | sasnagar.dcourts.gov.in — Recruitments |
Read the notice
Open / Download the notice and application form (PDF)
Public Notice of the District & Sessions Judge, S.A.S. Nagar — includes the prescribed application proforma. If the viewer does not load on your device, use the button above.
What a Family Court Counsellor actually is
Counsellors are not a courtesy attached to the Family Court — they are a statutory feature of it. Section 6 of the Family Courts Act, 1984 requires the State Government, in consultation with the High Court, to determine the number and categories of counsellors required to assist a Family Court and to provide the Court with them. Section 6(2) leaves the terms and conditions of their association to rules, and Section 23 gives the State Government the rule-making power, again after consultation with the High Court.
A point of precision that matters when you are reading these notices: the Punjab Family Courts Rules are State Government rules made under Section 23, not High Court rules. The High Court’s role is consultative at the rule-making stage and approving at the empanelment stage — which is why the notice says the panel is for three years “or as directed by the Hon’ble High Court” and why the number of posts is expressly subject to the High Court’s determination.
The work itself is the pre-litigation and mid-litigation reconciliation effort in matrimonial matters — sitting with parties, attempting settlement, and submitting a report to the Family Court Judge. It is the part of the family justice system that most affects outcomes and least attracts attention.
The honorarium, read carefully
The notice reproduces the honorarium clause of the Punjab Family Courts (Amendment) Rules, 2024, in four sub-rules. Most coverage will quote the two headline numbers and stop. The interaction between them is where the actual money is.
| Sub-rule | What it provides |
|---|---|
| (1) | ₹600 per sitting for every case, payable at an appropriate stage — preferably on submission of the report to the Court after the counselling process — as decided by the Judge of the Family Court, subject to a maximum of five sittings. |
| (2) | ₹7,000 for every reconciled case, after the passing of the final order by the Family Court. “The honorarium of seven thousand rupees shall include the honorarium, if any, paid under sub-rule (1).” |
| (3) | Where the subject matter of the dispute consists of two or more cases between the same parties, they are treated as one case for the purpose of honorarium. |
| (4) | The honorarium is revisable from time to time, but not exceeding five years; if no such determination is made within five years, it stands increased by 20% on completion of five years from the commencement of the Punjab Family Courts (Amendment) Rules, 2024. |
Three consequences follow, and none of them is obvious from the headline figures.
- ₹7,000 is a ceiling, not a bonus. Sub-rule (2) is expressly inclusive. A case that runs the full five sittings and then reconciles pays ₹7,000 in total — not ₹3,000 plus ₹7,000. The reconciliation payment is the balance, not an addition.
- A case that does not reconcile pays ₹3,000 at most — five sittings at ₹600. That is the realistic figure for the harder matters, which are also the ones that take the most sittings.
- A matrimonial bundle counts once. Where the same parties are before the Court in a petition under the Hindu Marriage Act, a maintenance case, and a domestic violence proceeding arising out of the same dispute, sub-rule (3) makes that one case. You counsel the whole quarrel and are paid for one file.
This is not a livelihood. It is honorarium work, and it should be approached as public service with a modest defrayal of cost — which, given the term of three years and the standing it carries, is a perfectly good reason to apply. Anyone budgeting on it will be disappointed.
Do not confuse this with the mediation-centre panel
S.A.S. Nagar has, in earlier years, advertised for General Counsellors and Child Counsellors for the Mediation and Conciliation Centre under the Punjab State Legal Services Authority. That is a different scheme under a different statute, and the terms are materially different:
| Family Court Counsellor (this notice) | PULSA Mediation Centre Counsellor (earlier notices) | |
|---|---|---|
| Governing rules | Punjab Family Courts Rules — Family Courts Act, 1984 | Legal Services Authorities scheme — PULSA |
| Qualification | Graduate degree | Master’s degree in Sociology / Social Work / Psychology |
| Age | Minimum 35 · no upper limit | Must not exceed 62 years |
| Honorarium | ₹600 per sitting · ₹7,000 per reconciled case | ₹2,000 per sitting |
| Term | Three years, panel approved by the High Court | One year |
If a listing you are reading quotes ₹2,000 a sitting or a 62-year ceiling, it is describing the mediation-centre panel and not this one.
The application — and where candidates lose it
The prescribed proforma is annexed to the notice and runs to sixteen items: name, parentage or husband’s name, date of birth with proof, permanent and correspondence addresses, mobile and e-mail, a table of qualifications with university, year of passing and percentage, experience (marked mandatory), present occupation, nationality and gender, and any other accomplishments.
Items 13 to 16 are the vetting questions, and they should be answered with care rather than reflexively:
- Whether any criminal case has been registered against the applicant, with details.
- Whether the applicant has ever been charge-sheeted for any criminal offence or in any departmental proceedings, with details.
- Whether the applicant has been convicted by any competent court, with details.
- Whether the applicant has more than one living spouse.
The declaration certifies that the particulars are correct and that nothing has been concealed, and expressly makes the candidature liable to rejection if found false. On a panel of this kind, a concealed answer to item 13 or 14 is a far greater risk than a disclosed one.
Documents
Every supporting document must be attested by a Gazetted Officer — educational qualification, identity proof, experience, and proof of date of birth. This is the requirement candidates most often leave until the last day, and attestation is not something that can be arranged on the afternoon of the 30th.
The deadline is hard
The notice is unusually clear on this. Applications must reach the office before 5:00 PM on 30 September 2026. Applications received after that time, by post or otherwise, will not be entertained, and the office expressly disclaims responsibility for postal delay or wrong delivery. Incomplete applications are rejected. Given that, hand delivery at the Sector 76 complex with a diarised receipt is the safer course.
The interview
Candidates must carry original testimonials to the interview. No TA/DA is paid, and no separate intimation of the interview will be issued — all announcements are made only on the Sessions Division website. That last point is the one that catches people. Set a reminder to check the recruitments page weekly from October onwards; there will be no letter and no message.
Terms you are accepting
- The panel is for three years or as directed by the High Court, and a Counsellor’s name may be removed from the panel without any prior notice at any time before the expiry of the term.
- The engagement is purely on a per-sitting basis. It is not employment, carries no salary, and creates no service rights.
- The number of posts may increase or decrease, the figure of four being subject to determination and approval by the High Court.
- The competent authority reserves the right to amend, cancel or change the advertisement in whole or in part without prior notice, and to alter the selection criteria.
- Merely satisfying the eligibility criteria does not entitle a candidate to be selected.
- If a candidate is erroneously appointed without fulfilling the criteria, the appointment is liable to be set aside at any stage.
Who should apply
The 35-year floor with no ceiling tells you what the Rules are looking for, and it is worth reading it as an invitation rather than a barrier. This is a role designed for people with standing and life experience: the senior advocate whose practice is in matrimonial matters, the retired teacher or social worker, the psychologist in private practice, the professional who has spent years in family welfare work with a Government department or a university.
For a matrimonial-side advocate in the Mohali, Chandigarh and Panchkula belt, there is a further reason. Three years on the Family Court counselling panel gives you a view of settlement dynamics from the other side of the table — what actually moves parties, and at which stage — that no amount of appearance work will teach you. That is worth considerably more than ₹600 a sitting.
Consider the conflict position honestly before applying. If you practise regularly in the Family Courts at S.A.S. Nagar, you will need to be scrupulous about not counselling in matters connected to your own practice, and about the perception of it. The notice does not address this; professional judgment must.
Also recruiting
S.A.S. Nagar is not alone. Family Courts across the Punjab sessions divisions issued near-identical counsellor notices in August 2026 — among them Amritsar, Patiala, Kapurthala and Mansa, the last of which advertised separately for General Counsellors and Child Counsellors. The qualification, experience and the “attained the age of 35” formula are the same in each, because they all reproduce the same Rules. Deadlines differ. If you are eligible here, check the recruitments page of your own Sessions Division as well.
Disclaimer: This post is a summary of the Public Notice issued by the Office of the District & Sessions Judge, S.A.S. Nagar, inviting applications for empanelment of Counsellors for the Family Courts of the Sessions Division, and is prepared for the information of readers. The honorarium rates and the qualification, experience and age conditions set out above are reproduced from that notice, which itself reproduces the relevant provisions of the Punjab Family Courts (Amendment) Rules, 2024; the date of commencement of those Amendment Rules is not stated in the notice and has not been independently verified. Candidates must read the official notice in full, and should check the Sessions Division website for changes. Lawizard.in accepts no responsibility for any decision taken on the basis of this post.
Sources: Office of the District & Sessions Judge, S.A.S. Nagar, Public Notice — empanelment of Counsellors for the Family Courts of S.A.S. Nagar, with detailed notice and prescribed proforma; sasnagar.dcourts.gov.in — Recruitments; Family Courts Act, 1984, sections 5, 6 and 23; Punjab Family Courts (Amendment) Rules, 2024, as reproduced in the notice; corresponding counsellor notices of the Family Courts at Amritsar (24.08.2026), Patiala (25.08.2026), Kapurthala (31.08.2026) and Mansa (August 2026).
