Trials Are Quest For Truth, Filing False Documents Is Fraud On Court: Rajasthan High Court Upholds Enquiry Into Sale Deed

Observing that every trial is meant to discover the truth and filing false documents amounts to fraud on the court, the Rajasthan High Court upheld an order directing enquiry into the genuineness of an allegedly forged sale deed.The court at the outset noted, “Truth is the foundation of justice…The entire judicial system has been created only to discover and establish the real truth…Justice founded on the truth would establish peace and harmony in the society. For the common man, truth and justice are synonymous and inseparable. So when truth fails, justice fails.”The bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand made these observations while rejecting a petition that challenged the directions by the district judge for conducting an enquiry regarding an agreement that was allegedly executed in 2000, while one of the witnesses had testified that the parties to the agreement had passed away prior to such execution.The court further said: "Every trial is voyage of discovery in which truth is the quest. Truth should be reigning the objectives of trial. The Courts are supposed to play an active role in discovering the truth and it is the duty of all stake holders to play an active role in this quest and assist the Court in discovering the truth. The Court should explore all available avenues in order to discover the truth...if any litigant approaches the Court with fabricated documents, a thorough enquiry is required in order to ascertain the truth. This is because filing of false documents is a serious matter that can be considered a fraud played on the Court, potentially leading to legal consequences for the litigants". The petitioner had filed a suit for specific performance in relation to a sale agreement of the year 2000. However, one of the witnesses submitted that the executants of the sale agreement had passed away much prior to the year of execution i.e. in 1995 and 1990 respectively. On the basis of this oral testimony of the witness, the petitioner's suit was rejected by the trial court and directions were issued to conduct an enquiry into the correctness and genuineness of the agreement. These directions were challenged by the petitioner on the ground that unless and until any concrete evidence was made available on records to support such testimony of the witness, order issuing directions for conducting enquiry could not be passed. After hearing the contentions, the Court opined that if a fact was disputed on the Court's records, it was required to be examined at the appropriate level by way of an enquiry. If a forged document was put on record, such practice could not be allowed on part of any litigant to maintain the majesty of law. The Court made reference to certain precedents, and observed that, “It is settled proposition of law that if any fact comes on the record before the Court indicating that any party to the proceedings has submitted a false & fabricated document, at any stage of the judicial proceedings, the Court is bound to form an opinion and it is expedient in the interest of justice to initiate an enquiry for ascertaining the correctness of the same”Finding no merit in the petition, the dismissed the same observing that the trial court's order required no interference. Title: Sundar Singh & Ors. v State of Rajasthan Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 392Click Here To Read/Download Order

Trials Are Quest For Truth, Filing False Documents Is Fraud On Court: Rajasthan High Court Upholds Enquiry Into Sale Deed

Nupur Agrawal

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