Six years and three deadlines into the verification of law degrees of lawyers, over 20,000 Kerala advocates have excused themselves from the vetting process. The third deadline for the verification process initiated by the Supreme Court in 2016 expired on June 30.
The Bar Council of Kerala (BCK) is unable to check the veracity of the degree certificates of those who gave the process a miss as the certificates are in the lawyers’ custody. The verification can be carried out only in the case of those who have submitted the documents, says BCK chairman K.N. Anilkumar.
Among those who chucked the verification process, some might have quit the legal practice. They may not also be associated with the Bar associations through which the certificates can be submitted for verification. There also exists the possibility of a few others who might have procured bogus certificates skipping the process, he said.
