The Supreme Court of India raised alarm on January 24 over the ongoing delays in verifying the credentials of lawyers, stressing that the process must be accelerated to eliminate the growing number of fraudulent advocates. The bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice KV Viswanathan, was hearing a transfer petition from the Bar Council of India (BCI) when it expressed concern about the unchecked rise of fake lawyers.
The case originates from a verification drive initiated in 2015, aimed at scrutinizing the law degrees and enrollments of the country's 1.5 million practicing advocates. With increasing evidence pointing to widespread fraud, including alarming numbers of fake lawyers in Delhi and Punjab, the Court highlighted the urgency of the matter.
“It is a very serious thing. The verification drive must be expedited. There has to be a timeline for this,” CJI Khanna asserted, underlining the critical nature of the issue.
The Court's remarks come in the wake of findings that suggest as much as 20% of the nation’s legal practitioners could be operating without valid credentials. The BCI had previously revealed that approximately one in five lawyers may be practicing with fake degrees, a situation that the Court acknowledged could undermine the integrity of the legal system and leave litigants vulnerable to exploitation.
Senior Advocate R Balasubramanian, representing the BCI, explained that the verification process is complex, requiring state-level coordination, which has contributed to the delays. He assured the bench that efforts are ongoing but pointed out the challenge of conducting a thorough verification across India.
The Court, however, made it clear that the process cannot stretch indefinitely. Directing the BCI to submit an updated status report within the next eight weeks, the bench emphasized that the matter must be addressed with urgency.
Recent findings have been alarming. According to sources within the BCI, the verification drive has already uncovered over 1,000 fake lawyers in Delhi and a similar number in Punjab. In a particularly concerning case, 117 advocates were recently found to be using fake degrees from Bundelkhand University, a revelation that has spurred calls for faster action.
The BCI had previously been instructed by the Court in April 2023 to form a High-Powered Committee to oversee the verification of law degrees. With growing concerns over the scale of fraudulent practices, the Court’s latest order signals a renewed push to address this issue.
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