The Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) on Friday gave Delhi Law minister Jitendra Singh Tomar four weeks to file a response to allegations of having submitted a “fake” undergraduate degree certificate. The BCD issued notice to Tomar after Avadh University in Faizabad, from where Tomar had claimed to have completed his under-graduation, sent a letter to the BCD claiming that the degree and marksheets submitted by Tomar were “completely fake.” Under the rules, a person who is enrolled in a post graduate course in law must have a valid undergraduate degree. The allegations were raised in a complaint filed before the Delhi High Court in February by advocate Santosh Kumar Mishra. [related-post] In his plea, Sharma claimed that Tomar had submitted a “fake and bogus” undergraduate degree in science from Avadh University to get enrolled at the Bishwanath Singh Institute of Legal Studies College. He was enrolled as a lawyer by the BCD on the basis of a law degree from this college. The High Court had on February 4 issued notice to the bar council on the petition, following which the BCD had sent an official to Avadh University, which denied having granted the degree to Tomar. The DBC had on February 14 issued showcause notice to Tomar. The matter is also being taken up by the Delhi High court which had issued notice to the bar council of India, Bar council of Delhi, Election Commission and Tomar to respond to that allegations. The court will now hear the matter further on April 27. Meanwhile, during a BCD hearing on Friday, Tomar’s brother Narender Kumar Tomar, who is also an advocate, appeared before the lawyers’ body and sought time to file a reply. “We have granted four weeks’ time to Tomar and then one week to the complainant to file a rejoinder,” DBC secretary Puneet Mittal said.
