NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court (SC) has appointed an eightmember panel led by ex-SC judge BS Chauhan to supervise the verification process of law degrees of advocates after learning from the Bar Council of India (BCI) that a lawyer with a fake degree had become a judicial officer in Kerala and seven such lawyers had contested and won bar elections.
A Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and J B Pardiwala said, “Having regard to the larger dimensions of the matter and given its implications on the justice delivery system, we appoint an eight-member panel headed by Justice Chauhan to monitor the verification process. ”
BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said state bar councils have been carrying out verification but it had run into difficulties because of the ‘certificate to practice’ issued to lawyers by state advocate regulatory bodies.
The SC said the other members of the panel would be retired HC judges Arun Tandon and Rajendra Menon, senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and Maninder Singh, and three members to be nominated by the BCI.
The Bench asked the panel to issue guidelines for verification of educational and enrolment certificates issued to lawyers, to enable them to practise in courts. It asked the panel to submit a status report by August 31.
