Advocate Barred For 2 Years For Charging Client ₹80,000 As Fake Court Fee

The Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa (BCMG) has suspended one Advocate from practice for a period of two years since she charged a fraudulent court fee of ₹80,000 from a client.

Advocate Ranjeeta Vengurlekar faced the penalty. She was also directed to pay a cost of Rs 25,000 to the client.

The complaint was filed by Abhijeet Jagannath Zadokar, who accused Vengurlekar of cheating him by taking ₹80,000 towards court fees and producing a fake receipt. He alleged that in total he paid her around ₹1,50,000 for legal services and suffered a loss of nearly ₹21 lakh due to her conduct.

The three-member committee, comprising BCMG Chairman UP Warunjikar and members SD Desai and AA Garge, found that the complainant had produced WhatsApp chats showing the demand of Rs 80,000 towards court fee. The electronic evidence was accompanied by S.65B Evidence Act certificate as well.

The committee found that prima facie, the Court Fee Stamp receipt of Rs 80,000 was bogus.

"Complaint is partly allowed...Sanad (license) of the Respondent is suspended for a period of 2 years and cost of Rs. 25,000/- is granted in favour of the Complainant and the Respondent is directed to pay the said cost within a period of one month from the date of receipt of this notice," the committee ordered.

Click here to read the order