Weeding Out Fake Lawyers: Madras HC Issues Circular; No Court/ Tribunal To Accept Vakalat Without Advocate’s Complete Details [Read Circular]

The Madras High Court has issued a circular directing heads of all sections of the Registry to not accept any vakalatnama sans the enrolment ID, mobile phone number and complete residential address of the counsel as well as the advocate who has attested the vakalat.

The circular issued by the Registrar General of the high court said, "All the heads of the sections of this registry, both in the principal seat of Madras and the Madurai bench of Madras High Court, Madurai are hereby directed not to accept any vakalat/ memo of appearance if it does not contain the enrollment number, mobile number and complete residential address of the counsel on record as well as the Advocate who has attested the vakalat and affidavit".

"No vakalat shall be accepted if the only address of the Advocate/ counsel on record or the advocates attesting the vakalat is mentioned as Madras High Court Advocates’ Association," it added.

The circular follows the November 11 order of Justice S Vaidyanathan by which rules of filing vakalat were re-written making the enrolment ID and complete details mandatory.

Justice Vaidyanathan had ordered this to weed out fake lawyers and those holding degrees from letterpad colleges.

He had directed that all courts/ tribunals in Tamil Nadu shall have the power to demand identity card/ enrolment certificate/ address proof of an advocate if it has doubt and cross check the same with the Bar Council.

The court had passed the order while hearing a matrimonial dispute in which parties had engaged multiple counsels who had given incorrect enrolment ID and never turned up before the high court.

Earlier, Justice N Kirubakaran had also criticized ‘goondas in black and white uniform’ taking avatar of advocates and put in place measures to check the menace.