Calcutta High Court Prohibits Filing By Unlicensed Lawyers And Orders Notaries Not To Certify Without Verification
The Calcutta High Court has instructed the Additional Director of General Police (CID) and Police Commissioner to launch the proper criminal proceedings in the matter. The court has taken a serious stance against the practice of impersonation and fraud being committed in cooperation with Advocates/fake advocates.
The Single Bench of Justice Md. Nizamuddin has also ordered that no Notary Public or the Oath Administering Authority in the subordinate judiciary will permit the affirmation of any affidavit or certify any document without first properly verifying the executants/deponents, including the attorneys and their staff.
The Court has further ordered that no document may be filed by a clerk in the High Court or in lower courts without being verified and mentioning his license or registration number.
Advocate Avijit Pal was required to appear in person before the court on September 5 at 10.30 a.m. after failing to show up when the petitioner’s case was called on August 31.
On September 5, when the issue was called, it was stated that neither the Advocate’s provided address nor his provided cell phone existed in his name and that no one had ever heard of such an Advocate.
The court further noted that Abhijit Pal, who has the same address and phone number as the petition stated above, is the attorney of record in two other writ petitions.
The Court heard testimony from a man named Jayanta Polley on September 12. In all of these writ petitions, he served as the clerk, and in some instances, he pretended to be the petitioners’ attorney to file the writ petitions.
He testified that the writ petitioners never gave him permission to sign the power of attorney, affirm these affidavits, or submit these Writ Petitions.
The Court also took notice of the fact that in addition to naming himself as Advocate Abhijit Pal/Avijit Pal, he also divulged the names of two additional attorneys, Monideepa Banerjee and Goutam Banerjee, both of Red Cross Place in Kolkata, who gave him instructions and paid him money for him to carry out these tasks as both the Advocate’s clerk and the Attorney for the Writ Petitioners based on Powers of Attorney created by the aforementioned Attorneys.
In his deposition, he claimed that the two lawyers, Monideepa Banerjee and Goutam Banerjee, had threatened him with severe repercussions, including the murder of him and his family if he revealed anything in court about all of these situations.
He also stated in his deposition that he was acquainted with Avijit Pal/Abhijit Pal, the attorney listed in all of these writ petitions.
Additionally, he admitted that his clerk’s license had already expired during the Covid period and that he was ineligible to serve as an advocate’s clerk even at the time of signing and submitting these writ petitions and documents.
Anirban Ray, a government leader, and T.M. Siddiqui, a second government leader, had testified on behalf of the State.
The Commissioner of Police and the Additional Director General of Police (CID) have been ordered by the Court to deliver the investigation status report by September 26, 2022.
News Mania Desk
