72-Year Old Woman Practising Law With A Fake Licence For 14 Years Arrested In Mumbai

On Saturday, the BKC Police detained a 72-year-old woman who was practicing law without a legit degree in Mumbai since 2008. The woman, identified as Mordekai Rebecca Joub alias Mandakini Kashinath Sohini, a resident of Pali Hill in Bandra West, was summoned by the police on July 15 to verify her credentials, according to the BKC police.

The woman failed to show up for the police.

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When Sohini went to the police station on Saturday and showed her degree along with her Aadhar Card and Vakalatnama, the officials confirmed its legitimacy.

"Her documents and license to practice law turned out to be fake. We have now contacted the bar council of Maharashtra and Goa to inform them about the fraud," a police official said.

Lawyer Akbarali Mohammed Khan (44) of Borivli filed the case against Sohini. He claimed that Sohini had been representing clients in Mumbai's family and other courts for many years without being a lawyer.

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Sohini was detained by the BKC police, who produced her before the Bandra holiday court on Sunday.

"The accused woman studied second-year law at Government Law College in 1977. Even after she didn't have a valid degree, she practiced in various courts in Mumbai, including family and session courts. I learned about her phony identity a year ago. Since then, I have been following her," said Khan.

"After much hard work, I studied the law by driving an auto rickshaw and became an advocate. Such fake people are defaming the profession of advocacy. This is the responsibility of the Bar Council. They should be verifying lawyers' registration with the Bar Council from time to time," Khan added.

"We have arrested the accused woman and produced her before the court. The court has remanded her in police custody till September 20," said another officer from BKC.

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