Justice N. Kirubakaran of the Madras High Court on Monday said courts were crowded by way of too many “lawyers” only because of activities of people like a law college principal who was arrested recently for having created fake attendance records and issuing bona fide certificates to students in a fraudulent manner to get them enrolled as lawyers in the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Presiding over a Division Bench along with Justice V. Parthiban, the senior judge said those who “purchase” law degrees without attending college, end up conducting kangaroo courts. The infusion of such individuals affected genuine lawyers who had undergone three-year and five-year full-time law courses with the fond hope of making it big in the profession, and end up spoiling the sanctity of the profession, he said.
The judge made the observations during the hearing of a batch of cases related to those who had reportedly obtained degrees from Andhra Pradesh from where the law college principal Himavantha Kumar was arrested, and were serving as guest lecturers in law colleges here. The judges ordered that all relevant details regarding such people should be submitted in the court by the next date of hearing so that necessary action could be taken.
Earlier, K. Balu, member of BCTNP, told the judge that the principal was arrested on the basis of the complaint lodged by the bar council. The Greater Chennai police had visited Kadapa, made inquiries and then arrested him, he said.
Later, taking up another case related to alleged lack of infrastructure facilities at the government law college campuses at Pudupakkam in Kancheepuram district and Tiruvalangadu in Tiruvallur district, the judges directed Additional Advocate-General Narmadha Sampath to file a detailed report by next month on the number of free bus passes issued to students, details of police booths near the campus and the mobile phone towers installed at the vicinity.
