Indore: HC rejects bail plea of man pretending to be advocate

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The High Court on Thursday rejected the bail application of a man who entered the district court last year pretending to be an advocate and was caught by local advocates and handed over to the police. 

As per the prosecution, on 01/12/2022 advocate Ujjawal Phanse and Arpit Verma filed a complaint at the M.G.Road police station, that accused Shivam Raghuwanshi is not an advocate, but he used to wear Advocate Band and Black Coat and was appearing before the Court No 19, Indore as an advocate and had also taken fees from people posing as an advocate. Learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is an innocent person, and he has been falsely implicated in this offence. He is in custody since 01/12/2022. 

Counsel appearing on behalf of the objectors Ujjawal Phanse, Gopal Kacholiya and Ghanshyam Gupta opposed the bail application by stating that the applicant was impersonating himself as an advocate and was wearing Advocate Band and Black Coat. He also appeared before the JMFC (Shri Shashank Khare) while forging the signature of Advocate MM Mishra on the Memo of Appearance. 

After considering all the facts and circumstances of the case, nature and gravity of offence, arguments advanced by the counsel for the applicant and also taking note of the facts the court said, “Offence committed by the applicant is serious in nature, which effect the entire judicial system including the legal profession of advocacy. Offence is punishable by life imprisonment.

In view of the evidence available on record, at this stage, without commenting upon the merits of the case, this Court is not inclined to grant bail to the applicant,” stated the High Court order.