KOCHI: With more incidents of professionals operating with fake degrees coming out in the open, the Bar Council of Kerala (BCK) has launched an initiative to verify the certificates of lawyers practising in various courts, including the High Court. Among the 24,523 certificates sent for verification to various universities in the country, 21,235 have been found to be authentic. Reports on around 3,300 certificates are yet to be received.
The remaining certificates cannot be considered fake as universities delay the verification process, BCK chairman Anil Kumar K N told TNIE. “The last date for submitting the certificates expired on June 30. We received a number of certificates on Friday as well.
Those who have not uploaded their certificates are likely to be considered ‘non-practising’ lawyers. However, the BCK plans to extend the date for uploading documents,” he added. BCK initiated the move on the directives of the Supreme Court and the Bar Council of India (BCI).
The SC has ordered that all universities and examination boards verify the genuineness of degrees without charge. In 2015, BCI introduced the Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules.