Class 10 certificate to be verified before enrolling lawyers

Bar Council of India directive following reports of bogus lawyers

Fresh law graduates now need to produce all their educational certificates starting from class 10 for verification to enrol themselves as advocates.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has instructed all State Bar Councils to enrol fresh graduates only after verifying all their educational certificates.

Those enrolling need to produce copies and originals of certificates from class 10, senior secondary, graduation, if any, and the L.L.B degree or the provisional degree certificates. Moreover, the mark sheets of all three years or five years of L.L.B examinations need to be produced along with their enrolment forms.

The BCI has initiated the drive following reports that over 40% of the lawyers practising in the country are bogus ones. The Supreme Court had also directed all the bar councils to verify the educational certificates of all lawyers.

The State Bar Councils should send the photocopies of the certificates to the board/universities concerned for verification within five days of receiving them. The educational agencies shall be requested to respond to the application within 10 days and enrolment should be done only after obtaining the response, the BCI has instructed.

If the educational institution fails to respond to the request for verification within 20 days, the candidate will be enrolled provisionally and issued provisional enrolment certificates valid for six months. The graduates will have to remit a fee of ₹2,500 for the verification of the certificates, said a circular issued by the BCI secretary.

State unit differs

The Bar Council of Kerala has urged the BCI to reconsider its decision and to limit the verification process to the law degree. It pointed out that it was the responsibility of the universities and law institutes to verify the educational qualification of the candidates before admitting them to law courses.

The BCK has scheduled an enrolment on March 26 in Kochi.

Councils to write to VCs

The BCI has directed the State councils to write to the University Grants Commission and the Vice Chancellors of the universities to take action against the erring staff if the educational institutions failed to verify or respond to the request for verification.

The councils can also call the candidate for an interview after obtaining the verification report. A report on the enrolment of the candidates shall be communicated to the BCI within 10 days of the enrolment.