The Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa (BCMG) recently suspended Advocate Ranjeeta Vengurlekar from practice for two years after finding her guilty of charging a bogus court fee of ₹80,000 from a client.

The erring advocate was directed to pay a sum of ₹25,000 to the client as compensation. The order passed by a Disciplinary Committee of the State Bar Council reads,

"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 client - one Abhijeet Jagannath Zadokar - alleged that Vengurlekar committed fraud by collecting ₹80,000 for court fees and producing a fake receipt. In total, the complainant claimed to have paid ₹1,50,000 for legal services and suffered a loss of approximately ₹21 lakh due to the advocates' actions. Supporting documents, including police communication, payment and WhatsApp records, were submitted before the BCMG.

The advocate denied all allegations. She claimed that Zadokar had only sought legal consultation from her and that ₹80,000 was for court fees while ₹50,000 was her legal fee. On March 20, 2025 the advocate filed a reply to complaint. However, neither the advocate nor her counsel participated in the proceedings.

The Disciplinary Committee of three members including BCMG Chairman UP Warunjikar and members SD Desai and AA Garge found that since the evidence remains unchallenged, the complainant has proved his case.

"Not only that the Complainant has produced Affidavit in support of the same and also 65-B Certificate is also produced by the Complainant. Thus prima-facie receipt of Court Fee Stamp of Rs.80,000/- is bogus."

With these observations, the BCMG partly allowed the application and suspended the advocate for 2 years.

[Read Order]