AJAY SHANKAR SRIVASTAVA versus BAR COUNCIL OF INDIA & ANR on 10 April 2023

1. The petitioner, who is a practising advocate, has invoked thejurisdiction of this Court to seek two distinct reliefs. The first of them isfor challenging an office order dated 1 November 2022 of the Bar Councilof India to all the State Bar Councils, the purport of which (according tothe petitioner) was to interdict the process of verification of advocateswho are enrolled with the State Bar Councils for scrutinizing thegenuineness of their degrees and enrollments. The second issue dealswith the method of co-opting members of the State Bar Councils to fillup casual vacancies.

2. We have heard Mr Anand Nandan, counsel appearing on behalfof the petitioner and Mr Manan Kumar Mishra, senior counsel, appearingon behalf of the Bar Council of India with Mr Apurba Kumar Sharma.

3. In 2015, the Bar Council of India notified the Bar Council ofIndia Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules 2015[1]. Theprocess of verification of the certificates and place of practice 1 “2015 Rules”

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Acommenced with efforts by the State Bar Councils and the Bar Councilof India.

4. The 2015 Rules were challenged before several High Courts,including the High Court of Delhi. A Transfer Petition was institutedbefore this Court by the Bar Council of India. The proceedings pendingBbefore diverse High Courts were transferred to this Court in TransferredCase (Civil) No 126 of 2015.

5. The Bar Council of India constituted a High PoweredCommittee for monitoring the process of verification which was headedby a former Judge of the Supreme Court, two former Judges of the HighCCourts and three members of the Bar Council of India.

6. The process of verification encountered difficulties as a resultof the charges which were demanded by the Universities for verificationof the educational certificates of the advocates. On 1 March 2017, a two-Judge Bench of this Court issued a direction to all the Universities not toDdemand charges for verification of educational certificates.

7. The process of verification has consumed time as the numberof advocates which stood at 16 lakh, at the material time, is estimatedto be almost 25.70 lakh, at the present. The counter affidavit which hasbeen filed by the Bar Council of India indicates the State-wise positionEin regard to verification of enrolled advocates. The tabulated statementis produced below:

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AJAY SHANKAR SRIVASTAVA v. BAR COUNCIL OF INDIA &509ANR. [DR. DHANANJAYA Y CHANDRACHUD, CJI]

8. The above statement indicates that out of 20.57 lakh advocates,about 7.55 lakh forms were received for the purpose of verification.Senior advocates and advocates-on-record were only required to issuea declaration and, accordingly, 1.99 lakh declarations have been received.The total number of forms received is, thus, 9.22 lakhs, as indicated inthe above table.

9. The above table indicates that a majority of advocates enrolledwith the State Bar Councils have not submitted their verification forms.The Bar Council of India apprehends that many advocates who have notsubmitted their forms for verification are persons who are not qualifiedor are “in possession of fake degrees”. The Bar Council of India hassubmitted and, with justification, that this class of persons, without thepossession of qualifications required for law practice, is known to enterupon the arena of courts for extraneous purposes, including the disruptionof work. The Bar Council of India is justified in asserting that suchpersons have to be identified and weeded out from the list of advocatesenrolled with the Bar Councils.

10. The due verification of advocates who are enrolled with theState Bar Councils, is of utmost importance to preserve the integrity ofthe administration of justice. Persons who profess to be lawyers, but donot either have the educational qualifications or degree certificates onthe basis of which they could have lawfully granted entry to the Bar,pose a grave danger to the administration of justice to citizens. Hence, itis the duty of every genuine advocate of the country to ensure that they A

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Acooperate with the Bar Council of India which is seeking to ensure thatthe certificates of practice are duly verified, together with the underlyingeducational degree certificates. Unless this exercise is carried outperiodically, there is a danger that the administration of justice would beunder a serious cloud. The written submission which has been placed onthe record by the Bar Council of India indicates that several such personsBhave been elected to State Bar Councils and some persons havethereafter occupied judicial office in the district judiciary as well.

11. The communication which was issued by the Bar Council ofIndia on 1 November 2022 took exception to the fact that the Bar Councilof the State of Uttar Pradesh had started the process of verification in aChurried manner without verifying the genuineness and validity of theeducational certificates and degrees of advocates. The letter adverts tothe fact that certificates of practice were being issued by the State BarCouncil. Hence, all State Bar Councils were directed not to proceedwith the process of verification till further orders. However, it was clarifiedDthat the State Bar Councils which are verifying the genuineness andvalidity of degree certificates shall continue to do so.

12. Mr Manan Kumar Mishra, Senior Counsel and theChairperson of the Bar Council of India, has clarified, during the courseof the submission, that the intent of the letter dated 1 November 2022Ewas not to direct the cessation of the process of verification, but only toensure that the process of verification was not carried out merely onthe basis of the certificates of practice issued by the State Bar Councilwithout verifying the genuineness and validity of degree certificates.

13. Having regard to the larger dimensions of this matter and theFdirect impact which the enrollment of fake degree holders and otherpersons who are not found to be in possession of the qualifications requiredfor entry into the Bar have on the administration of justice, we accede tothe suggestion of the Bar Council of India that a High Powered Committeeshould be constituted by this Court to monitor the process of verification.In our view, such a High Powered Committee should be chaired by aGformer Judge of this Court and its members should consist of: (i) twoJudges of the High Court; (ii) two senior advocates; and (iii) threemembers of the Bar Council of India. The above suggestion has beenaccepted by the Bar Council of India.

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AJAY SHANKAR SRIVASTAVA v. BAR COUNCIL OF INDIA &ANR. [DR. DHANANJAYA Y CHANDRACHUD, CJI]

14. We accordingly direct that the Committee shall consist of thefollowing persons:

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(i) Mr Justice Deepak Gupta, former Judge of the SupremeCourt;

(ii) Mr Justice Arun Tandon, former Judge of the High Court ofBJudicature at Allahabad;

(iii) Mr Justice Rajendra Menon, former Chief Justice of theHigh Court of Delhi;

(iv) Mr Rakesh Dwivedi, Senior Advocate; and C

(v) Mr Maninder Singh, Senior Advocate.

The Bar Council of India shall be at liberty to nominate threemembers. The Secretary to the Bar Council of India shall be the nodalofficer to facilitate all logistical assistance to be rendered to the membersof the Committee. The honorarium payable to the members of theCommittee shall be fixed by the Chairperson in consultation with theBar Council of India.

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15. The Committee constituted by this Court is empowered tomonitor the process of verification. The Committee would be at libertyto issue necessary guidelines and directions to ensure that the processof verification of advocates is duly carried out. The process of verificationshall encompass both the educational degree certificates and thecertificates of enrollment of the advocates concerned. All State BarCouncils shall comply with the directions of the Committee and reportcompliance.

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16. All Universities and Examination Boards shall verify thegenuineness of the educational certificates without charging any fee forthe purpose of verification. The requisitions made by the Bar Councilsshall be carried out without undue delay and the reports of the verificationshall be submitted expeditiously.

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17. We request the Committee to commence work at its earlyconvenience by convening the first meeting on a mutually convenientdate and time. A status report shall be submitted before this Court by 31August 2023 on the process which is being carried out.

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512SUPREME COURT REPORTS

[2023] 6 S.C.R.

A18. We clarify that the present order for constituting the Committeein order to effectuate the process of verification shall not be in and ofitself construed as a direction for extending the existing terms of the BarCouncils.

BAnkit Gyan(Assisted by : Mahendra Yadav, LCRA)

Directions issued.

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