Litia Cava 
Suresh Chandra.
The Independent Legal Services Commission has ordered Suresh Chandra, the former chair of the Electoral Commission, to pay a fine of $500,000 to the Chief Registrar for professional misconduct.
Chandra was found to have violated Section 82(1) (b) of the Legal Practitioners Act, relating to the trust account of MC Lawyers held at the Bank of Baroda.
The Commission concluded that Chandra failed to supervise the trust account, signed incomplete cheques, and caused an unreconciled amount of $2.139 million of trust funds to be subject to unauthorized withdrawals.
The charges against Chandra covered five allegations of misconduct, including failure to maintain proper accounting records and unauthorized withdrawals from the trust account.
In addition, the Commission also ruled that Chandra’s name be struck from the roll of practitioners held by the Chief Registrar, and MC Lawyers have been directed not to engage in legal practice.
Chandra has been given three months to pay the fine.
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