The Madras High Court Bench here on Friday directed the Bar Council of India (BCI) as well as Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry (BCTP) to postpone scheduled enrolment of law graduates on Saturday.
Justice N. Kirubakaran passed the interim order on a criminal original petition filed by advocate S.M. Anantha Murugan through his counsel W. Peter Ramesh Kumar.
The petitioner had claimed that many of the law graduates had criminal backgrounds.
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Claiming that many individuals “purchase” law degrees from private colleges in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand, the petitioner alleged that most of such people happened to be accused in murder, theft and rape cases. He also stated that 40 per cent of 900 individuals proposed to be enrolled as lawyers by the BCTP on Saturday had criminal backgrounds.
But they had managed to obtain positive reports about their background from the police department, he added.
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On the same day, advocate S. Muthukumar of Madurai filed a public interest litigation petition seeking a direction to restrain the BCI and the BCTP from enrolling law graduates with criminal backgrounds. A Division Bench comprising Justices M. Jaichandren and R. Mahadevan ordered notice to the councils returnable by four weeks.