The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court had actually called the fake degree holders “cockroaches”, but this word “cockroaches”, which went viral on social media, has now become a thorn in the neck of the system. If we look into history, we will find that after the movements of JP, VP Singh and Anna Hazare, governments may have changed, but the system has not changed. Even if the Union Education Minister resigns over the NEET paper leak, how will the system be fixed without giving criminal punishment to the organized gang that cheats in education and examinations? The tragedy of our republic was exposed by the shocking revelations on the nexus between the mafia, politicians and bureaucrats in the Vohra Committee report, submitted by Union Home Secretary NN Vohra in October 1993. After more than three decades, a new roadmap is visible from the latest decision of Allahabad High Court Judge Vinod Diwakar. This was a criminal case of Etawah, in which lawyers and their families were also parties. Expressing anguish over the prevalence of criminals and gangsters in the legal profession, the judge said the rule of law dies twice – the first time when lawyers become criminals and the second time when judges choose silence over courage. It is important to understand 4 issues related to the contradictions of the judicial system. 1. While misbehaving with the judges, a law student had abused the Chief Justice. The Bar Council has also issued guidelines to stop the increasing indecency and trolling on social media. But the roots of the problem run much deeper. Justice Vikramnath’s bench has expressed concern over “law colleges running in garages”. In the last decade, the Chairman of the Bar Council had said that one-third of the lawyers are practicing in a fake manner. The bench of Chief Justice Chandrachud had ordered the identification of lawyers with fake degrees by the decision of April 2023. 2. On the matter related to criminality of lawyers, the judge of Allahabad High Court has directed the Bar Report was sought from Council, Police, Registrar Society etc. Only 2.49 lakh lawyers have certificate of practice in the state. 105 lawyers have been found to have fake graduation or high school degree. Iyer’s bench had said that lawyers should not behave like private guilds. If a lawyer is facing a criminal case then it would be difficult for him to become a judge. Apart from promoting the qualified lawyers, the lawyers should also provide details of the criminal cases. The judge has ordered to fix the accountability of all the bar associations in the country. A YouTuber sent to jail in the contempt case has demanded to record the action of the courts. Only this step can stop the fake lawyers and get the public justice. Justice Narasimha has also ordered the Bar Council to conduct a comprehensive audit of the lawyers. The High Court judge has also talked about transparency and accountability in the Bar Associations. Out of 5.14 lakh registered lawyers, 5056 lawyers have been found to have fake law degrees.
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Virag Gupta’s Column: How will we get justice if there are criminals in the legal profession?
