Creation of a forged document to obtain possessory rights over a property constitutes offences under Sections 120(B), 420, 465, 468, 471 and 506(i) of IPC. The civil court should independently decide the issue of adverse possession.

ORDER

The petitioner the Accused No.1 in C.C.No.4 of 2020 on the file of the learned Judicial Magistrate No.II, Pudukkottai, filed this petition to quash the proceeding against him in C.C.No.4 of 2020.

2.The petitioner and other accused are said to have committed offence under Sections 120(B), 420, 465, 468, 471 and 506(i) of IPC. One Shanmugam and other accused executed a possessory farming right of the property situated at S.Nos.368/3, 368/4, 368/6, 368/7, 368/10, 368/12 and 368/13 measuring an extent of 4 acres and 83 cents, belonging to the defacto complainant's Sangam. In the said document, it is represented that one Shanmugam and other persons are in possession of the said properties and the possession was to the petitioner under the said deed. On the basis of the said deed, the accused/Village Administrative Officer issued the forged possessory certificate in the name of the remaining accused. Therefore, the Sangam preferred a complaint before the respondent Police and the respondent Police registered a case in Crime No.34 of 2013 for the offence under Sections 120(B), 420, 465, 468, 471 and 506(i) of IPC. Thereafter, the investigating agency completed the investigation and filed a final report before the jurisdictional Court and the same was taken on file in C.C.No. 4 of 2022. To quash the proceedings in C.C.No.4 of 2020, against the petitioner, he filed the present quash petition.

3.Mr.T.Gowthaman, learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner made the following submissions;-

3.1.Even accepting the allegation made in the FIR and the final report, the offence under Sections 120(B), 420, 465, 468, 471 and 506(i) of IPC are not made out. He further elaborated his argument on the basis of the Judgment of the Honourable Supreme Court in the case of Mohammed Ibrahim and others Vs. State of Bihar and another reported in 2009 (8) SCC 751 (hereinafter, called as Ibrahim case) he has specifically stated that the act of the petitioner entering into the transaction with the Shanmugam and other persons to get the possessory right over the schedule property through the document would not amount to fabrication of the document, i.e., false document. According to the learned Senior Counsel, in order to constitute the offence of creation of false document, it must be established that the accused person had made or executed the document claiming to be someone else or he was authorised by someone else. In this case, no such alienation was made.

As per the Ibrahim case, the aggrieved person is only a purchaser of the property and any complaint made by the third party relating to the fraudulent nature of the document can not be legally entertained. For which, he relied the specific paragraph of the Ibrahim case which reads as follows:

11. Section 470 defines a forged document as a false document made by forgery. The term “forgery” used in these two sections is defined in Section 463. Whoever makes any false documents with intent to cause damage or injury to the public or to any person, or to support any claim or title, or to cause any person to part with property, or to enter into express or implied contract, or with intent to commit fraud or that the fraud may be committed, commits forgery.

12. Section 464 defining “making a false document”

is extracted below:

“464. Making a false document.—A person is said to make a false document or false electronic record—

First.—Who dishonestly or fraudulently—

(a) makes, signs, seals or executes a document or part of a document;

(b) makes or transmits any electronic record or part of any electronic record;

(c) affixes any digital signature on any electronic record;

(d) makes any mark denoting the execution of a document or the authenticity of the digital signature, with the intention of causing it to be believed that such document or a part of document, electronic record or digital signature was made, signed, sealed, executed, transmitted or affixed by or by the authority of a person by whom or by