Lawyer booked for ‘duping’ car owner of Rs 3L

A city-based lawyer was booked on Sunday by the Chandigarh Police for allegedly defrauding a Punjab resident of nearly Rs 3 lakh on the pretense of filing a consumer court case.

The complaint was submitted to the Chandigarh SSP by Gurwinder Singh Walia of Lohgarh, Punjab, who sought legal recourse after encountering a defect in his newly purchased Jimny. Walia came in contact of advocate Pankaj Chandgothia, who claimed to be actively practising at the consumer court in Sector 19, Chandigarh.

Walia in the FIR testified of paying Rs 22,000 through Google Pay and later giving Rs 2.8 lakh to the lawyer. Despite repeated assurances, Walia and his wife were shocked to learn that no such case had been filed.

Singh alleged that when he contacted the Bar Council in Sector 37, lawyers there confirmed that Chandgothia was a habitual fraudster whose licence had previously been cancelled.

Chandigarh