Gujarat High Court Upholds Acquittal Of Man Accused Of Forging Records To Grab Land Vacated After Migration Of Owners To Pakistan In 1971

The Gujarat High Court has upheld an order of trial court acquitting one Rayma Adham Sela accused of forging documents to show himself as the legal heir of original landowners who migrated to Pakistan in the year 1971-72.A Bench comprising Justice SH Vora and Justice Rajendra Sareen was told that after the original owners of the land and house left for Pakistan, the accused created false, fabricated and concocted affidavits and entered their names in the revenue records by committing offence of cheating and forgery.However, the bench noted that no iota of evidence was placed on record by the complainant regarding any kind of fraud, cheating, etc. alleged to have been committed by the accused."It is mentioned by all the witnesses that they are unknown to the fact that in whose name the house and land are resting. The accused have executed documents of the land but when they have executed and how they have executed is not known to any of the witnesses...They are totally ignorant of the fact that how the revenue records are holding the names of the accused and since when."The complainant had lodged a complaint for offences punishable under Sections 406. 465, 467, 468, 471, 114 and 120(B) of the IPC. It was alleged that the land in question was to be taken over as per the Evacuee Property Act however, since the aforesaid revenue entry was not recorded, taking advantage of the same, the Accused persons fabricated documents to register the property in their names. The complainant averred that these facts were not appreciated by the trial court. It was further pointed out that the District Collector took suo-motu revision and found the revenue entry of the disputed land illegal. Accordingly, the mutated entries were deleted. Per the Complainant, this aspect was ignored by the trial court. At the outset, the High Court said that the scope of acquittal appeals includes re-appreciation of evidence. However, it observed that not a single iota of evidence has been produced pertaining to commission of forgery of valuable security or will.It added that it is the duty of the complainant to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt by producing oral as well as documentary evidence and even the complainant can call and examine any person from the revenue department as a witness with revenue records of the land in question with respect to entering the name of the respondents accused.Thus, in the facts of the instant case, the Bench concluded: "In the entire evidence, if the property has been taken up by the Government as evacuee property, no order of the Government has been produced on record...No observations regarding forged affidavit or panchnama has been made out in the order of the Collector...it appears from the record that not a single documentary evidence of revenue record is produced by the complainant." The appeal was accordingly dismissed. Case Title: RAYMA ADHAM SELA Versus STATE OF GUJARATCitation: 2022 LiveLaw (Guj) 290Click Here To Read/Download Order

Gujarat High Court Upholds Acquittal Of Man Accused Of Forging Records To Grab Land Vacated After Migration Of Owners To Pakistan In 1971

PRIYANKA PREET

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