35 lawyers suspect,under Bar scanner

The Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa and the Pune Bar Association have jointly received around 35 complaints against suspected fake lawyers,which the council and the association are trying to verify.

The Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa and the Pune Bar Association have jointly received around 35 complaints against suspected fake lawyers,which the council and the association are trying to verify. After the arrest of three lawyers since April,two more were arrested from Pune district on Monday for impersonating as lawyers.

Considering the rising cases of fake lawyers in the district,it is learnt that the Pune district and sessions judge Anant Badar has directed all magistrates,sessions,civil and district judges to ask for the sanad number on the vakalatnama of any fresh lawyer appearing in any case. Meanwhile,the Pune Bar Association (PBA) is planning to put forth a memorandum to the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa (BCMG) demanding to set up a vigilance committee to keep a tab on such lawyers.

As per the Advocates’ Act,it is not mandatory for the Bar Council to set up a vigilance committee. However,we have a privilege committee that looks after complaints against advocates, said advocate Anil Singh,chairman of BCMG.

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However,Harshad Nimbalkar,member of BCMG from Pune,said that they shall put up a proposal to start a vigilance committee in the full-house meeting of the council on October 23. According to member of privilege committee of BCMG Milind Pawar,an advocate has to submit a form with signatures of two lawyers with more than 10 years of experience and their law certificate to get the sanad.

There is no foolproof system in place for issuance and scrutiny of sanad to advocates. Strict procedure like passport verification has to be in place to obtain sanad, he said.

Scrutiny Panel

The Pune Bar Association has formed a three-member committee to whom litigants can approach if they found any lawyer suspicious. The committee comprises of PBA president Dhananjay Taur -9371002874,PBA secretary Amol Kajale-Patil -9422322056 and secretary Sunil Jagtap -9422514266. Also,litigants can cross-check sanad of their respective counsels with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa on http://barcouncilmahgoa.org/directory.asp or call the Bar Council office on 022-22656567/ 022-22677508

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