Kottayam: In a shocking discovery the Bar Council of Kerala found fake lawyers practising in the courts of Kerala, including the High Court. The revelation by the Council comes even as the process of verifying the authenticity of the educational qualification of advocates is coming to an end today. 

Lawyers who fail to validate their certificates will be removed from their rolls, said the Bar Council.

The Kerala Bar Council will hold an emergency meeting on July 2 to discuss the issue. C S  Ajithan Namboothiri, the Vice-chairman of the Council, said that some fake advocates were detected when the applications that have been received till now were scrutinised.

The Council made the verification of certificates mandatory after it was found that a woman named Sessy Xavier had forged documents and had been practising as an advocate for a couple of years. 

The Bar Council has directed that all the advocates practising in the courts of Kerala should furnish copies of their certificates for authenticating their credentials and on the basis of this process, renew their certificate for practising. It is the Bar Council that grants the advocates the enrollment and practice certificates.      

As per the current practice bar associations collect copies of certificates from advocates and submit them to the secretary of the State Bar Council. Those who apply for enrollment must submit their certificates from Class 10.

Sessy Xavier case

In April, alleged fake lawyer  Sessy Xavier who was on the run since 2021 surrendered before the First-Class Judicial Magistrate Court in Alappuzha. She was absconding after being booked for practicing as a lawyer with fabricated certificates. She practised as a lawyer in various courts in Alappuzha for more than two years without securing an LLB degree.

Alappuzha North police had registered the case against Sessy based on a complaint lodged by the Alappuzha Bar Association. The complaint said the woman had used the credentials of another person to enrol herself as an advocate in the Bar Association and to become an advocate commission.

It was later found that Sessy had used the enrollment number of a Thiruvananthapuram-based advocate to commit the alleged fraud.

Sessy was exposed after the Bar Association received an anonymous letter saying she had submitted fake certificates. The Association, which launched an investigation based on the letter, found she had been using the credentials of the Thiruvananthapuram advocate. It was also found that she was registered with the Bar Council of Kerala. 

The woman went into hiding after the Bar Association demanded her to submit her law certificates.