On Nov. 7, the Law Society of BC confirmed a citation against former articling student Rahul Wadhera has been rescinded.
"While the reason the citation was rescinded is confidential, I can confirm that Wadhera is no longer enrolled as an articled student, was not called in BC and is not entitled to engage in the practice of law," said Christine Tam, the society's director of communications and engagement.
Wadhera faced a citation alleging while articling at a Vancouver law firm he discussed smuggling a contraband cellphone into a federal prison with an inmate.
In August 2019, investigators allege Rahul Wadhera engaged in activities that he knew or ought to have known “assisted in or encouraged dishonesty, crime, or fraud, contrary to” regulations.
Wadhera is said to have had discussions with a prisoner knowing the prisoner was on a contraband cellphone and then discussed smuggling a phone into the prison.
The April 16 citation does not name the prison and only refers to the prisoner as “AA.”
The society also made a second allegation — that Wadhera “engaged in activities that you knew or ought to have known assisted in or encouraged dishonesty, crime, or fraud,” by discussing trafficking marijuana with BB, a former client of the firm where Wadhera was articling.
A third allegation is that Wadhera made “representations to a law society investigator that you knew or ought to have known were misleading or false, or both.”
Those alleged false and/or misleading representations include: “That for a period of time before you communicated with BB, you received threatening phone calls from unknown persons who referenced AA; that you engaged in communications with BB because AA asked you to send text messages to them on AA’s behalf and dictated what to say; and that when you communicated with BB you did not know until the next day that you were engaging in a conversation about trafficking marijuana.”
Editor's note: This story was updated Nov. 8 to reflect the fact Rahul Wadhera's citation has been rescinded.
