Today, the Supreme Court set up a High Powered Committee to look after the verification process of the degree certificates of advocates. Former Supreme Court judge Justice BS Chauhan, Senior Advocates Maninder Singh, and Rakesh Dwivedi were the members of the committee. Along with this three other members will also be elected by the Bar Council of India (BCI) for the same. The constitution of a High Powered Committee was initiated after determining the roadblocks in the verification process of advocates. The bench also highlighted that two high Court judges will also be elected to the Committee and order them to initiate the work and file a status report by 31 August 2023.
The bench including Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice PS Narasimha observed that “Due verification of Advocates registered with State Bar Councils is or utmost importance to safeguard the integrity of administration of justice.” The bench also ordered “it is the duty of all genuine lawyers to get their degrees verified. Unless the same is done periodically, the administration of justice would be in jeopardy.” The Supreme Court further added, “All universities and exam boards shall verify the genuineness of degrees without charging fees, and requisition by State Bar Councils shall be processed without undue delay.
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