Hey, to answer your question we need to analyse the Validity of sale.
Essentials of a valid sale Under section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882:
1. The parties to contract must be competent to contract.
2. The mode of transfer for property of value not less than 100 rupees must be either registration or delivery of possession.
3. The subject matter of sale must be transfer of ownership.
4. There should be consideration for transferring the property.
Section 55 clause 2 of Transfer of Property Act, 1882 provides that – The seller shall be deemed to contract with the buyers that the interest which the seller professes to transfer to the buyer subsists and that he has the power to transfer the same.
Here, the seller does not have the title of the property and neither does he have subsisting interest in the property which makes him incompetent and forbids him of the power to execute a valid transfer, hence the sale is invalid.
As mentioned by you that your mom’s signatures were forged therefore, I would like you to know that Forgery basically means creating false documents such as deeds, wills and other legal documents with the intention to cause legal injury, deceive others, acquire someone’s property and engaging in fraudulent activity. The wrongdoers will present themselves as legitimate property owners in legal proceedings, leading to unauthorized transfer of property right.
Section 463 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 provides that whoever makes any false document or false electronic record or part of a document or electronic record, 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 enter into any express or implied contract, or with intent to commit fraud, commits forgery.
You can refer to State of Orissa v. Rabindra nath Sahu, 2002
Any person who is a victim of forgery can file civil lawsuits for injunctions, declarations, annulment of conveyance deeds and other reliefs based on the nature of the case and can file police complaint for forgery as it is an offence under section 463 of Indian Penal Code, 1860. The process followed by you to file an FIR is correct.
Hope it helps to answer your query.
Regards,
Parth Chawla