Anurag Mohindru, a 50-year-old King's Counsel who acted in high-profile crown court cases including the successful defence of England cricketer Ben Stokes, has been disbarred after a Bar Tribunal Service panel found he lied about having studied at the University of Oxford.
A five-member tribunal found that Mohindru claimed in interview and on a written curriculum vitae submitted in 2013 that he had studied biomedical science or medicine at Oxford. The panel concluded the statements were false and that the dishonesty risked bringing the profession into disrepute. The barrister was removed from the roll and ordered to pay £54,000 in costs. A second charge alleging he had falsely claimed to hold a medical qualification was dismissed by the tribunal.
Nicholas Ainley, chairman of the disciplinary panel, described Mohindru’s statements about Oxford as "a reckless, foolish and completely unnecessary lie" and said the panel made the finding "with genuine regret." The tribunal noted Mohindru had been called to the bar in 2004 and had built a lengthy career in criminal practice, rising to take silk and appearing in a number of crown court trials.
Mohindru had applied to join 23 Essex Chambers in 2013. Five barristers who interviewed him gave evidence to the tribunal that he had made the Oxford claim in both spoken interview and in his written CV. Mohindru told the panel the interviewers must have misremembered what he said and suggested his CV could have been tampered with; computer experts called to examine the records told the tribunal there was no evidence of tampering.
The tribunal also considered other claims attributed to Mohindru in the press and during inquiries. It rejected a formal charge that he had falsely claimed to be a qualified medical doctor. Separate assertions that he had played professional cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and had won an Oxford "blue" were not the subject of formal disciplinary charges; the notes say those claims were unearthed by cricket‑enthusiast barristers who interviewed him.
In mitigation, Mohindru’s counsel, Mark Harries KC, told the panel his client had been "unsophisticated, utterly foolish" and had made a "gross error of judgement" that had returned to haunt him. The tribunal was told Mohindru had sold his house, faced an imminent unpaid tax bill, and was living in accommodation provided by the school where his wife teaches.
The ruling has immediate professional and public consequences. Mohindru is chairman of Essex County Cricket Club, a position the notes say he faces being stripped of this weekend. The tribunal concluded that the proven dishonesty was incompatible with continued practice as a barrister at the Bar’s regulatory standard.
Commenting on the wider context, a senior London lawyer quoted in the notes said the upper echelons of the legal profession remain dominated by Oxbridge alumni, suggesting the false claim was particularly damaging in a profession where university pedigree is closely scrutinised by peers. The tribunal’s finding underscores regulators’ focus on integrity and the reputational risks posed by dishonest statements in applications and interviews.
The Bar Tribunals Service’s decision brings to an end a career that tribunal members described as previously "brilliantly successful." The disciplinary panel’s written determination set out the facts it accepted, its reasoning for the sanction, and the costs order. Mohindru may have other avenues open to him under professional rules, but the tribunal’s sanction will remove his right to practise in the short term and has already affected his standing in the cricketing and legal communities.