The High Court has overturned the disbarment of Indian-origin barrister Anurag Mohindru, who was found to have lied about studying medicine at the University of Oxford. The court replaced the permanent ban with a suspension that expired on Tuesday, enabling him to return to legal practice.
Details of the case
Mohindru, 51, was charged by the UK Bar Standards Board (BSB) with dishonest and discreditable conduct. An independent tribunal disbarred him last year after finding he had falsely claimed to have studied biomedical science or medicine at Oxford University in a 2012 application for tenancy at 23 Essex Street chambers.
The High Court heard that Mohindru did study medicine, but at St George's University in the United States. He later completed a postgraduate bar training course at the University of the West of England in Bristol in 2004 and was called to the Bar of England and Wales by London's Middle Temple Inn that same year.
Court's reasoning
Justice Johnson stated, "The public is capable of understanding the difference between a practitioner who has recently acted dishonestly, or whose dishonesty forms part of a continuing pattern, and one whose misconduct occurred many years ago, has not been repeated, and whose subsequent conduct has demonstrated a sustained record of integrity." He added, "In such a case, public confidence may be maintained by a sanction which marks the gravity of the dishonesty without permanently excluding the practitioner from the profession."
The BSB records now show Mohindru as "suspended from practice between 7 October 2025 until 30 June 2026." The watchdog had argued that his conduct brought the legal profession into disrepute. According to BSB notes, "He knowingly misled or attempted to mislead members of those chambers by asserting that he had studied biomedical science and/or medicine at Oxford University, which statement(s) he knew to be untrue in that he knew he had not attended Oxford University."
Professional background
Mohindru holds the title of King's Council (KC) as a senior legal professional. He has represented several high-profile cases, including one involving England cricketer Ben Stokes after a nightclub brawl in 2018. The offence dated back over 13 years, and the court noted that his subsequent conduct demonstrated integrity.
