Lawyer held for posing as magistrate denies charges

Chandigarh, June 9

Advocate Prakash Singh Marwah, who was arrested by the Chandigarh Police for posing as Judicial Magistrate, has denied all charges levelled in the FIR. Marwah has submitted a reply to a notice issued by the disciplinary committee of the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council. The latter had issued a notice to explain why his licence should not be suspended during the pendency of the present disciplinary proceedings.

In reply, Marwah denied the charges levelled in the FIR. He said he was going to see a doctor around 6.30 pm on May 18, when he stopped at the traffic lights of Sectors 46/48. A traffic cop approached him from the driver side and asked him to open the window and asked for his licence.

Marwah said when he asked for the violation or offence, the cop just asked to give his licence and later allegedly demanded Rs 2,000 . “Hearing this, I was shocked,” said Marwah. The cop then said,” itni badi gadi chala rahe ho, 2000 nahi hai tere paas (you are driving such a big car and you don’t have Rs 2,000).”

He said he asked the cop to take him to the SHO, but he still did not tell Marwah about his offence. When the SHO came, the first thing he asked me was about the offence and then wanted to search the car.

Marwah said, “In the light of Section 35 of the Advocates Act, I pray that there is no professional misconduct by me. The video is absolutely doctored, fake and edited. I couldn’t meet the police demand, so they levelled baseless allegations against me.”

“The rush to arrest me violate my human rights, as I was brutally assaulted in police custody. The police has purposely leaked my video online to humiliate me,” he added.