This had been happening quite a long time... but came into light only yesterday. An advocate's clerk in our bar who used to go to bank and remitt court fees given to him by advocates used to promptly return with payment counterfoils and the cases are being filed by advocates pasting the bank stamped counterfoils pasted on a sheet as proof of payment of court fees.
Yesterday it was found in the internal audit that the court fees a/c in court record is mismatching with the bank a/c balances.
On enquiry it was found that this particular advocate clerk.. who was used for bank remittences had found a new way to scam. In the bank he obtains payment challan and fills it up with last three figures of the amount that had been given to him by the advocate.... eg., for payment of Rs.3,687 court fees he fills up the challan for the amount Rs.687 and pays that into the bank and later in the counterfoil (which is now stamped and signed by the bank clerk) he adds 3, and Three thousand in words and gives it back to the advocate, pocketing that three thousand rupees and the advocate innocently file this challan counterfoil as proof of payment of court fees, into the court.
The investigation is continuing and so far, this scam by a single clerk beleived to have crossed 2 lakhs rupees affecting a number of OPs and OSs.
I post this as a caution to fellow members where the usual practice is identical to our place and who depend on clerks particularly for this type of work.
