Imphal, Aug. 25: The Bar Council of Manipur has completed about 75 per cent verification of lawyers following directives by the Bar Council of India (BCI) to state bar councils to check the presence of fraud lawyers in the enrollment list.

Manipur Bar Council secretary S. Chandrasekhar Singh said here today that the BCI, in order to streamline the legal profession in the country, had implemented the Bar Council of India Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules in 2015.

The objective of this rule is to weed out fake lawyers, imposters and other such persons who claim to be lawyers by furnishing duplicate educational testimonies, he added.

Soon after the BCI notified the state bar councils in January 2015, the Manipur Bar Council, under its guidance and instruction, started the process of verifying lawyers enrolled in the state rolls.

The Supreme Court, in a recent order dated August 23, directed the verification process to be expedited and gave 15 days to advocates to correct their respective forms.

University authorities have been directed to verify degrees awarded to advocates within a month without making any changes.

After the verification process, the state bar council is required to publish the final list, including the names and particulars of those advocates whose degrees have been verified by university authorities.

The verification will have to be completed by December 31 this year.

The BCI has also directed the state bar councils to submit a status report after the verification is complete.

The Supreme Court will be taken up the matter for hearing in the second week of January 2018, Chandrasekhar said.

In 2015, there were 732 members in the bar council of Manipur.

Man arrested

A man was arrested for allegedly uploading objectionable pictures of a girl on social media, says PTI.

A pistol and ammunition were recovered from his residence. The man was arrested from Lilong Chajing in Thoubal district yesterday. Police and the cyber crime unit were looking for the man ever since a complaint was lodged by the girl.