99 FIRs filed against advocates over fake degrees in Prayagraj

Prayagraj: As many as 99 FIRs have been lodged at Civil Lines police station in Prayagraj in the past four days following the Allahabad high court’s direction to the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to register cases against 105 advocates who had allegedly enrolled using fake or fraudulent law and academic degrees.SHO (Civil Lines) Ramashrya Yadav told TOI that authorities of the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh had submitted 99 applications/cases for registration of FIRs regarding fake degrees. The remaining six FIRs would be lodged once the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh authorities submit the required documents.The SHO said, “After registering all 99 FIRs, cops have started investigations to compile evidence and other documents to take legal action as per the law.”Officials of the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh claimed that, in compliance with the HC order, 105 advocates have been identified whose law degrees were found to be fake during verification under the Certificate and Place of Practice Verification Rules-2015 of the Bar Council of India.Police said several fraudulent or tampered degrees surfaced in the names of reputed institutions, including Allahabad University, during verification, prompting the authorities to take necessary action.Officials said a separate FIR would be registered in each case. Every case will be investigated separately, and legal action will be taken based on facts emerging during the investigation, as per the rules.