A lawyer from Surat has been suspended from practising law for 10 years by the disciplinary committee of the Bar Council of Gujarat for allegedly cheating his client of more than Rs 5 lakh.

According to the details of the case, Tribbovanpalsinh R Parmar, a retired government official living in Ahmedabad, had hired Kishor N Sojitra, then practising in Rajkot, for a case through an acquaintance almost a decade ago.

In 2003, Sojitra had asked Parmar to lend him Rs 5.51 lakh since he did not have money. Parmar lent him money in good faith. As security, Sojitra issued six cheques in Parmar’s name. The cheques bounced as there was no money in the lawyer’s account.

Subsequently, Parmar served a notice to Sojitra under the provisions of the Negotiable Instrument Act. When Sojitra still did not pay back the amount, Parmar filed six criminal cases against him. Court summons were sent to him, but he did not reply. He, moreover, allegedly threatened his client with “dire consequences.”

Afterwards, however, Sojitra proposed a compromise and “sold” a plot on an industrial land at Veraval village in Kotada Songhani taluka to Parmar for Rs 6.26 lakh. Sojitra even executed a possession receipt (satakhat) and the Power of Attorney.

It was agreed that Parmar would pay Sojitra the remaining amount of Rs 75,000 after 90 days. In response, the criminal complaints were also withdrawn against Sojitra.

Though, when Parmar went to plot along with some hired labourers to fence it, a man came and said that the land belonged to him and had never sold it to anyone.

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