SC Forms Committee Led By Former Judge To Examine Lawyers’ Degrees And Law Certificates

The Supreme Court constituted an eight-member committee on Monday, led by former supreme court judge Justice BS Chauhan, to oversee the process of verification of lawyers’ certificate of law practice other education/ degree certificates.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala passed the order in response to a petition by practicing lawyer Ajay Shankar Srivastava challenging a BCI office direction to all State Bar Councils, which had the effect of halting the verification of advocates.

The committee will also include retired Allahabad High Court judge Justice Arun Tandon, former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajendra Menon, Senior Advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and Maninder Singh, and three members selected by the BCI.

“All universities and exam boards shall verify the genuineness of degrees without charging fees, and requisition by State Bar Council shall be processed without undue delay. We request the committee to start work in a mutually convenient date and time and status report be filed in August 31, 2023,” the bench directed.

In 2015, the BCI notified the BCI Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules 2015. SBC and BCI completed the verification of advocates from their place of practice. The BCI challenged the rules in different High Courts and filed a transfer petition with the Supreme Court.

The proceedings before the High Courts have been transferred to the Supreme Court.

The BCI eventually formed a high-level committee to spearhead the verification, but the process was hampered by charges demanded by institutions to check the degrees certificates granted by them.

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court later barred the imposition of such charges.

The bench stated in its order that the number of advocates was 16 lakh during the relevant time, but it is now anticipated to be 25.70 lakh.

“The reply by BCI indicates the position with regard to verification of enrolled advocates state wise. Seniors and AoR had to submit declarations and 1.99 lakh declarations were received. This indicates that the majority of advocates enrolled with State Bar Councils is yet to submit their verification forms and BCI apprehends many are not qualified to practice law and many are there for extraneous purposes and that such persons have to be identified and be weeded out,” the bench remarked.

It emphasized the significance of proper verification of lawyers registered with State Bar Councils in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice and the judicial system.

Hence, it is the duty of all legitimate lawyers to cooperate in this process of having their degrees confirmed, and unless this exercise is carried out on a regular basis, the administration of justice will be jeopardized, the bench noted.

BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra informed the bench that the purpose of the BCI office order to State Bar Councils was not to halt the verification process, but to ensure that verification was not based solely on the certificate of practice, but also on the validity and authenticity of degree certificates.

The BCI chairperson proposed a high-level committee to oversee the verification process, which the Court accepted.