Double trouble: Lawyer struck off by SRA has now been disbarred as well

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By Katie King on

He was a barrister, solicitor and lecturer at Aberystwyth University — now he’s none of these

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A former lawyer who was struck off the solicitors roll last year has now been disbarred as well.

Rajesh Babajee, an unregistered barrister, was reprimanded yesterday at the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Tribunal for misappropriating £45,000 of client funds in a 2009 conveyancing transaction. He has now been booted out of the profession, with the Bar Standards Board (BSB) noting this ruling would serve “as an important reminder that barristers have a duty to report disciplinary action by another regulator”.

A former lawyer at Lambeth Solicitors, Babajee did not attend the bar tribunal. According to The Law Society Gazette, 36 Bedford Row barrister Kakoly Pande, appearing for the BSB, said the accused had “chosen not to engage” with the regulator. The tribunal decided not to adjourn the hearing to try to secure Babajee’s presence, with the tribunal’s chairman, His Honour John Rylance, stating:

He has been given plenty of opportunities to give his account but has not given any account.

Maybe Babajee’s non-attendance could be explained by a sudden case of déjà vu.

Last May, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) charged the Keele University graduate with the same offence he was subject to yesterday. Then, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) kicked Babajee out of the profession for a “catalogue of proven breaches”, amounting to “a masterclass in failure to comply with the basic requirements of practice as a solicitor”.

It’s also worth mentioning Babajee used to be a lecturer at Aberystwyth University’s Mauritius campus. Though Babajee is still described as a law lecturer, and a barrister too, on his LinkedIn profile, he resigned after being struck off and no longer appears on the university’s staff list. His public profile states he “tutors in law during the weekends”.

What a fall from grace.

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