This story is from May 25, 2015

Tomar case: Plea seeks recusal of 2 Bar members

A lawyer on whose complaint the Bar Council of Delhi has issued notice to Delhi law minister Jitender Singh Tomar, now wants two members of the BCD panel to “recuse” from further proceedings.
Tomar case: Plea seeks recusal of 2 Bar members
NEW DELHI: A lawyer on whose complaint the Bar Council of Delhi has issued notice to Delhi law minister Jitender Singh Tomar, now wants two members of the BCD panel to “recuse” from further proceedings.
Advocate Ripu Daman Singh Bhardwaj has filed an application before BCD seeking that two of its members should not be part of proceedings against Tomar over his alleged fake law degree.
Bharadwaj has alleged conflict of interest citing that one of the members represented Tomar as a lawyer in the Delhi high court while the other approved Tomar’s enrolment form when he first applied for permission to practice as a lawyer.

“That in the larger interest of justice and for sake of integrity and prestige of the Bar Council of Delhi, they (two lawyers) may kindly recuse themselves and should not be present in the meeting when the matter is taken up by the council in the interest of justice,” the application filed in BCD says.
Bhardwaj has said in his plea that one of the members, advocate Rajiv Khosla, appeared for Tomar on April 27 in a matter pending before HC. The application says while Khosla who is also president of Delhi High Court Bar Association “recused in the matter at the time of hearing on May 8 (before BCD) but was present and sitting in the proceeding of the matter.”
Referring to another member Murari Tiwari, the plea says he made a recommendation on Tomar's enrolment form in his capacity as then member BCD.

While it was the Delhi HC that first heard allegations against Tomar in a writ petition filed in February, the matter is currently being examined by the BCD. The writ in HC alleged that the AAP minister’s undergraduate degree from Awadh University is fake.
Bhardwaj then filed a complaint in BCD seeking cancellation of Tomar's registration as an advocate and initiation of criminal proceedings against him, prompting the statutary body to issue notice to Tomar and asked him to file his response.
Recently Tomar's counsel asked for more time to file the “certified copies” of his degrees. BCD, which is the disciplinary authority for lawyers practicing in Delhi, has directed Tomar to submit the original copies of the certificates to the council by May 27 and also sent a complaint to Delhi Police on the basis of prima facie evidence.
Meanwhile, in a split within BCD, ten members of the 25-member panel have protested to chairman K K Manan the decision to send a complaint to police regarding the alleged forgery. They maintain that the move was without their consent and lacks a unanimous approval.
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