Forgery without knowledge
Ashish
(Querist) 10 January 2014
This query is : Resolved
Distinguished Members of Lawyersclubofindia.com
Greetings
My query is regarding forgery and fraud.
a)If an individual is accused of presenting a Forged document but the accused is earnestly & actually unaware at the time of presentation of the document that it is a forged document then in such a case how can he prove his innocence. In other words what should be his legal recourse.
For eg :If one was to present a document to a government authority without any knowledge that the document is forged and with no personal gain or benefit then will the law prosecute the given person for presenting a forged document even though at the time of presentation the person was completely unaware of the given document being forged and where there was no personal gain what so ever.
b) In absence of the original document which is supposedly forged can it be concluded under law based on xerox copies of the said document that the given document is a forgery. If so has there be any such cases.
c)Can the honorable court pass a judgement based on xerox copies of a supposedly forged document.If so has there be any such cases.
d)In addition if the original forged document has been destroyed or unrecoverable what is the recourse under law to the plaintiff and the defendant.
e)Would the individual who claims that he was unaware in the first place of the document being a forgery or having any possible gain by executing the supposedly forged document be deemed as the one having the original document or willfully destroyed the same.
f)Finally in absence of a clear motive or personal gain to the person presenting a forged document and in absence of the original forged document does such a case hold worthy of trial and to what extent.Can it be quashed in initial stages of the trial.Also how can the person who was unaware of the forged document be acquitted of the alleged charge so that the real culprits be brought to stand trail.
g)Does the law differentiate between an attempt to forgery which was successfully detected and prevented with a an actual act of forgery executed for self gain.
Please respond
Cheers :
Ashish
Rajendra K Goyal
(Expert) 10 January 2014
Repeated and academic query:
http://www.lawyersclubindia.com/experts/Forgery-without-knowledge-446591.asp#.Us_yRbSLq_I
http://www.lawyersclubindia.com/experts/Forgery-without-knowledge-446586.asp#.Us_yg7SLq_I
Ashish
(Querist) 11 January 2014
Got it Mr.Barman & Goyal
How do I delete this query.
In the mean while if you can then plz spare some time to respond to the original query.
Shantilal Pandya
(Expert) 11 January 2014
Forgery without knowledge of it being so is not punishable , innocence can be proved like proof of any other fact, the prosecution cant be quashed at initial stage till innocence is established on preponderance or probability, forgery can be proved through zerox copy depending upon nature of forgery, destruction of a forged document without mens rea is no offence.
T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate
(Expert) 13 January 2014
I think Expert Shantilal Pandya has given a valuable piece of opinion despite the query has been repeated. I agree with him.
