Delhi: 10 lawyers’ licence suspended for fake Covid reports

NEW DELHI: While it has distributed over Rs 19 crore among Delhi lawyers affected by Covid-19, Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) has also found several cases of fake test reports to secure financial assistance. On Wednesday, it suspended the licence of 10 lawyers for allegedly submitting fake positive reports.
Since the fake cases cropped up during a random scrutiny of 200 applications for funds, the council has now announced in a notice that it will verify all Covid test reports of approximately 4,000 lawyers from the respective testing labs. “It is, therefore, advised to the beneficiaries that in case any of them has submitted a false Covid report, he may voluntarily tender an apology in the form of an affidavit along with a demand draft of the amount already received,” the notice stated.
BCD chairman Ramesh Gupta took note of the latest findings and suspended the 10 advocates. A special disciplinary committee has been set up to further probe the allegations.
The disciplinary body had on July 9 first suspended a lawyer’s licence to practise for allegedly submitting a fake Covid-positive report. “It is apparent that the Covid report submitted by the said lawyer is fake and claiming financial help on the basis of a fake report not only amounted to misconduct but also forgery and cheating,” the council noted while asking the lawyer to file a response before the special disciplinary committee within seven days of receipt of the notice and appear in person before the panel.
The council warned that the opportunity of voluntarily tendering an apology and returning the money would be granted only once and, later on, strict disciplinary action would be taken against all those found involved in the fabrication of the Covid reports for claiming grants.