Bar Council of India Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015 – Verification of certificates of practice and educational degrees – Petitioner challenged an office order dated 01.11.2022 of the Bar Council of India to all the State Bar Councils, the purport of which (according to the petitioner) was to interdict the process of verification of advocates who are enrolled with the State Bar Councils for scrutinizing the genuineness of their degrees and enrollments – Held: The Bar Council of India apprehends that many advocates who have not submitted their forms for verification are persons who are not qualified or are “in possession of fake degrees” – Therefore, the Bar Council of India is justified in asserting that such persons have to be identified and weeded out from the list of advocates enrolled with the Bar Councils – The due verification of advocates who are enrolled with the State Bar Councils, is of utmost importance to preserve the integrity of the administration of justice – According to Bar Council of India, the intent of the letter dated 01.11.2022 was not to direct the cessation of the process of verification, but only to ensure that the process of verification was not carried out merely on the basis of the certificates of practice issued by the State Bar Council without verifying the genuineness and validity of degree certificates – Having regard to the larger dimensions of the matter, a High Powered Committee should be constituted to monitor the process of verification – Such a High Powered Committee should be chaired by a former Judge of this Court and its members should consist of: (i) two Judges of the High Court; (ii) two senior advocates; and (iii) three members of the Bar Council of India.
Issuing directions, the Court
HELD: 1. The Bar Council of India apprehends that many advocates who have not submitted their forms for verification are persons who are not qualified or are “in possession of fake degrees”. The Bar Council of India has submitted and, with justification, that this class of persons, without the possession of qualifications required for law practice, is known to enter upon the arena of courts for extraneous purposes, including the disruption of work. The Bar Council of India is justified in asserting that such persons have to be identified and weeded out from the list of advocates enrolled with the Bar Councils. [Para 9][509-E-F]
2. The due verification of advocates who are enrolled with the State Bar Councils, is of utmost importance to preserve the integrity of the administration of justice. Persons who profess to be lawyers, but do not either have the educational qualifications or degree certificates on the basis of which they could have lawfully granted entry to the Bar, pose a grave danger to the administration of justice to citizens. Hence, it is the duty of every genuine advocate of the country to ensure that they cooperate with the Bar Council of India which is seeking to ensure that the certificates of practice are duly verified, together with the underlying educational degree certificates. Unless this exercise is carried out periodically, there is a danger that the administration of justice would be under a serious cloud. [Para 10][509-G-H; 510-A-B]
3. The intent of the letter dated 1 November 2022 was not to direct the cessation of the process of verification, but only to ensure that the process of verification was not carried out merely on the basis of the certificates of practice issued by the State Bar Council without verifying the genuineness and validity of degree certificates. [Para 12][510-E]
4. Having regard to the larger dimensions of this matter and the direct impact which the enrollment of fake degree holders and other persons who are not found to be in possession of the qualifications required for entry into the Bar have on the administration of justice, this Court accedes to the suggestion of ANR.
the Bar Council of India that a High Powered Committee should be constituted by this Court to monitor the process of verification. In view of this Court, such a High Powered Committee should be chaired by a former Judge of this Court and its members should consist of: (i) two Judges of the High Court; (ii) two senior advocates; and (iii) three members of the Bar Council of India. The above suggestion has been accepted by the Bar Council of India. [Para 13][510-F-H]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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