NEW DELHI: The Bar Council of India (BCI) on Sunday ordered the removal of Advocate Sanjeev Nasiarhead of the AAP’s legal cell, from his position as vice chairman of the Bar Council of Delhi.
The decision comes amidst allegations of irregularities in Nasiar’s LLB (Hons) degree, issued in 1988 by Devi Ahilyabai Vishwavidyalaya, Indore. The BCI has also instructed its Secretary to approach the CBI to verify the authenticity of the degree and investigate possible fabrication of related records.
The BCI revealed that a sub-committee was constituted earlier this year to investigate the matter following directions from the Delhi high court. The inquiry found several discrepancies in the records provided. Among them was the fact that PMB Gujarati Arts and Law College, Indore, was not authorized to conduct an LLB (Hons) course during the relevant period. Moreover, the LLB (Hons) program itself was introduced under Bar Council regulations only in 2008, raising doubts about the legitimacy of the degree purportedly issued two decades earlier.
BCI said that the further scrutiny of the academic records revealed signs of tampering, with uniform handwriting and ink consistency over extended periods.
The BCI, citing its authority under the Advocates Act, 1961, resolved to adopt the inquiry report and removed Nasiar from his post pending the outcome of the CBI investigation.
This comes months after the Delhi high court in August dismissed a petition challenging the authenticity of Nasiar’s degree. Justice Rajiv Shakdher, while delivering the judgment, relied on a verification report from the concerned university that declared the degree genuine. The court had noted that there was no basis for the claim that the degree was “forged or fabricated.”
