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New Delhi: A sensational claim has come to light regarding the courts of the country which has created a stir in the entire legal world and judiciary. Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman and senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra has made a very shocking claim and said that about 35 to 40 percent of the people roaming around in the courts across the country wearing black coats of lawyers may be fake degree holders.

Mishra said in clear words that these fake people are not only tarnishing the credibility of our judiciary but are also playing with the daily functioning of the courts and the future of the real lawyers who work hard day and night. He has announced that the Bar Council will soon file a petition in the Supreme Court to stop this mega-fraud, in which a demand will be made to strictly check the degrees of lawyers across the country and to get the entire matter investigated by the country’s largest investigating agency, CBI.

Syndicate of fake lawyers is running ‘cockroach campaign’ on social media

Making another big revelation, BCI Chief Manan Mishra said that the “Cockroach” campaign that is being run on social media in recent times is actually being run by a big network of these fake lawyers. These are the people who are deeply afraid of their degrees being scrutinized and do not want their truth to be revealed.

According to Manan Mishra, “This is not a small gang. These people have huge money and a very big organization. These people are running such campaigns on social media to create an atmosphere against the judges and the judiciary so that the case can be diverted and the path of CBI investigation can be blocked. These people organize strikes in the courts on small issues and conspire to defame the judiciary.”

What is the whole controversy to Chief Justice Surya Kant’s comment?

Actually, this whole matter heated up on social media when a comment made in the court of Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant was distorted and presented in the wrong context by some people. During this controversy, when Manan Mishra was questioned about the “Cockroach Janata Party” campaign running on the internet, he told the entire story behind the scenes.

He clarified that Chief Justice Surya Kant had actually expressed deep concern about those people who are roaming fearlessly in the court premises with fake and fake degrees. But mafia elements turned this serious concern of the Chief Justice into a controversy by wrongly publicizing it on social media.

In the year 2015, it was revealed that land grabbing business was going on under the guise of advocacy.

Senior lawyer Manan Mishra said that the Bar Council first became aware in the year 2015 that people with fake degrees are active on a large scale in the courts of the country. Initial investigation had revealed that there are 30 to 35 percent people in the country who are trying to get courts closed, get into trouble with judges and go on strike, whereas the reality is that they do not have any real degree in law.

Making another serious allegation, he said that many vicious people are indiscriminately using the fake identity of a lawyer to intimidate the police and administration in illegal activities like land grab and property dealing.

Out of 25 lakh lawyers, only half could show their real degree.

Putting forward a very scary figure of this entire process of degree verification, BCI Chairman said that when rules were made to stop this fraud and later the matter reached the Supreme Court, then CJI DY Chandrachud had also admitted that people practicing law with the help of fake degrees are roaming in the courts.

After this, to expose this racket, a high-level committee was formed under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Gupta, whose job was to scrutinize the documents of lawyers across the country. Manan Mishra revealed that there are about 25 lakh lawyers registered (enrolled) in the country, but when the process of scrutiny and verification of degrees started, only 12 to 12.5 lakh of them submitted their documents. The remaining more than 12 lakh people did not respond to the notice, which clearly shows that there is something wrong with the pulses.

The web is spread in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

The Bar Council chief claimed that this network of fake lawyers is more active in big metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai and their courts than in small cities. He said that when the Bar Council started their verification promptly, these fake gangs staged violent demonstrations against the Bar Council, burnt effigies and launched a protest campaign from social media to the streets so that the investigation could be stopped.

Law’s hands tied, hence now hope is only from CBI

When Manan Mishra was asked why the Bar Council itself does not take action against them, he put forward legal compulsion. He said that under the Advocates Act, the Bar Council can suspend the licenses or take action only against those who are officially enrolled advocates with them.

Expressing helplessness, he said, “If an outsider without any degree is just buying a black coat from the market and roaming around in the court premises and calling himself a lawyer, then we do not have any police machinery to catch him or send him directly to jail.” For this, he suggested that the Supreme Court should give such a strict and historic order, under which the identity card, certificate and bar roll number of every lawyer appearing in every court of the country should be compulsorily checked daily.

Bar Council will go to Supreme Court, there will be ‘milk of milk and water of water’

The Chairman of the Bar Council finally said that now the water has gone above the head, hence the Bar Council will very soon file a formal petition in the Supreme Court demanding a CBI investigation into the entire nexus.

Mishra said that once the case goes into the hands of CBI, “milk of milk and water of water” will be created and the entire syndicate of fake lawyers will be behind the bars. Expressing concern, he said that due to this fraud, the future of those young lawyers who study diligently day and night and come to the court honestly are being ruined the most. This serious investigation is extremely important to save the respect of both judiciary and advocacy.