The court confirmed that to establish forgery, the accused must be proven as the makers of the false documents, emphasizing intent in the definition of forgery under relevant sections.

JUDGMENT :

A. BADHARUDEEN, J.

Accused Nos.1 to 3 in C.C No. 2 of 2005 on the files of the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Thiruvananthapuram, have preferred this appeal challenging the verdict in the said case dated 25th November 2010.

2. Heard the learned counsel for the appellants/accused Nos. 1 to 3 as well as the learned Special Public Prosecutor representing the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) in detail. Perused the records of the special court and the decisions placed by the learned counsel for the appellants/accused Nos. 1 to 3.

3. The crux of the prosecution allegation is that the 1st accused who held the post of Manager, Chalai Branch of Kerala State Financial Enterprises (for short, ‘KSFE’ hereafter) abused his official position in association with the 2nd accused, his wife and the 3rd accused, his sister after sharing common intention to cheat KSFE and to obtain undue pecuniary advantage for them created forged employment certificates in the name of fictitious persons and used those forged employment certificates as genuine in two chitti loans and accordingly the 2nd accused obtained loan of Rs.44,000/- on 20.10.1993 and the 3rd accused obtained loan of Rs.48,000/- on 24.11.1993.

4. The Special Court took cognizance of the matter and proceeded with the trial. During trial, PWs 1 to 15 examined and Exts.P1 to P23 were marked. When opportunity was provided to the accused to adduce defence evidence, after they were questioned under Section 313(1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, DW1 examined and Ext.D1 marked on the side of the defence.

5. On analysis of the evidence, the Special Judge found that accused Nos. 1 to 3 committed offences punishable under Section 468 and 471 r/w 34 of the IPC as well as under Section 13 (1)(d) r/w 13(2) of the PC Act, accordingly, they were sentenced as under:-

“Accused Nos. 1 to 3 are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year each and in addition they shall pay a fine of Rs.500/- (Rupees five hundred only) each and in default of payment of fine, they shall undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one month each, for the offence under Ss.468 r/w 34 I.P.C., they are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year each and in addition they shall pay a fine of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five hundred only) each and in default of payment of fine, they shall undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one month each, for the offence under Ss.471 r/w 34 I.P.C. they are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year each and in addition they shall pay a fine of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five hundred only) and in default of payment of fine, they shall undergo imprisonment for a period of one month each. The bail bonds executed by them are cancelled. The substantive sentences shall run concurrently.

6. According to the learned counsel for appellant/accused Nos. 1 to 3, in this case, based on Ext.P1 series, as well as Ext.P3 series, the allegation of the prosecution is that the accused forged employment certificates in the name of Smt. P K Sarasamma, who was working as P.D. Teacher at the Government UP School, Karavaram, Attingal, as Ext.P3(e) and as per Ext.P3(d), the employment certificate of Smt.K.Ambikapathy, who was working as P.D. Teacher of the Government Upper Primary School, Karavaram, Attingal. Similarly, the other allegation is that as per Ext.P1(c) and P1(d), the accused forged employment certificates of Sri. Ramachandran Assari, as well as K.Krishnankutti Nair, to avail loan in the name of the 2nd and 3rd accused. According to the learned counsel for the accused, as far as grant of l