Allahabad High Court Rejects Bail to Advocate Accused of Forging Educational Credentials

The Allahabad High Court recently refused bail to an advocate accused of forging his Class XII mark sheet and using fabricated documents to obtain law degrees and registration with the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh.

The bench of Justice Krishan Pahal rejected the bail plea of Ashish Shukla in a case registered under Sections 420 [Section 318 (4), BNS], 467 (Section 338, BNS), 468 [Section 336 (3), BNS], and 471[Section 340 (2), BNS] of the IPC at Kotwali police station, Kanpur Nagar.

Court held that the allegations, if true, strike at the very root of the legal profession and erode public confidence in the administration of justice.

The case originated from a complaint filed by advocate Aridaman Singh before the President of the Kanpur Bar Association. It was alleged that Shukla had forged his educational documents and secured registration as an advocate on the basis of those forged credentials. Acting on the complaint, the Bar Association President forwarded the matter to the Police Commissioner, leading to registration of the FIR.

Counsel for the applicant argued that the complaint itself was procedurally flawed and that only the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh was competent to examine the validity of his educational qualifications. It was further alleged that the Bar Association President acted out of personal rivalry and without a resolution of the association.

During the investigation, the applicant furnished several documents, including his B.Com certificate and Bar Council registration certificate. However, he failed to produce his Class XII mark sheet. He claimed that the document had been destroyed by termite and stated that he had lodged an e-complaint regarding the missing certificate.

The applicant had earlier been granted anticipatory bail by the Sessions Judge, Kanpur Nagar, subject to conditions including production of his complete educational credentials. His anticipatory bail was subsequently cancelled on the ground that he failed to comply with those conditions. He was arrested on December 17, 2025, from Nainital.

The counsel for the applicant challenged the arrest as illegal and contended that a reward had been declared against him without following due process under Sections 82 and 83 of CrPC (corresponding to Sections 84 and 85 of BNSS). It was also argued that the offences were triable by a Magistrate and punishable with imprisonment of less than seven years. 

Opposing the bail plea, the informant and the state relied on official records. The state submitted that in 1992, the applicant appeared in the high school examination with parentage recorded as S.D. Shukla and subsequently failed in the Class XII examination. A certificate issued by the Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad, Regional Office, Prayagraj, confirmed that he had failed in Class XII.

The prosecution alleged that despite failing in the examination, the applicant falsely represented himself as having passed Class XII in 1994 with 52% marks. It was contended that on the basis of forged documents he obtained graduation and law degrees and thereafter secured registration as an advocate.

Rejecting the termite-destruction explanation as improbable, court observed that other educational documents were admittedly intact, making the selective destruction claim doubtful.

Court held that the material on record prima facie established that the applicant had failed in Class XII and had misrepresented his qualifications.

Observing that an advocate is an officer of the court and a pillar of the justice delivery system, court said that forging one’s own credentials to enter the profession amounts to a grave fraud on the institution of justice. It concluded that this was not a fit case for grant of bail and rejected the application.

However, court directed the trial court to decide the case expeditiously and clarified that its observations were confined to the disposal of the bail application and would not influence the merits during trial.

Case Title: Ashish Shukla vs. State of UP

Order Date: February 6, 2026

Bench: Justice Krishan Pahal