HOW TO IDENTIFY FORGERY?

By Anjali 11 Minutes Read

How to identify FORGERY? (Sec.463-477A)[1]

The felony of forgery has been in being for fairly a stretched period now. “In Roman law, it was enacted by the Lex corenelia de falsis, that a person ho falsely writes, seals, publicly read or foists in a forged will or other documents or makes, cuts, moulds, a spurious seal willfully & maliciously should be punished – if a free man with deportation, & if a slave, with death.”

Chapter XVIII of the Indian penal Code, 1860, in Section 463 to 489 E, deals with the offence relating to documents & property marks. The offences may broadly be divided into two categories.

1. Forgery
2. Fraudulent use of property mark

Forgery is an offence which can be traced back to its origin with the invention of writing & the practice of conserving the written documents. When a false thing is made with the intention to induce someone to have faith in it as genuine & original, then the offence of forgery is committed.

For illustration, in the case of forgery of the record of the court, or of public register, forgery of valuable security, will, etc. & forgery for purpose of duplicitous & damaging the repute of another, etc, a penalty may extend to three years, seven years or 10 years of imprisonment & fine. It need not be always handwritten; the law of forgery shelters printing, engraving, and typewriting as well.  The typical custom of forging is to formulate untrue writing and sign another’s name to it or to make a substantial amendment to valid writing already signed by another.

Forgery is “The making of false instrument with intent to deceive” – Blackstone

WHAT CONSTITUTES FORGERY

According to English common law: ‘ every instrument which “fraudulently purports to be that which it is not” is a forgery .’ it is not mandatory that the entire document is forged, fabrication of any part of the whole document can constitute forgery. Thus, it is clear that the main object of forgery is to cheat, to cause someone unfair commotion of property by mode of a false document.

Forgery can thus be labelled as merely the means to achieve an end – the end being deception. The offence of forgery is the making of a false document with the criminal intent to cause damage to any person. The making of a false document by itself is not indictable under the provision unless the documents amount to a forgery.

SCOPE OF SECTIONS 463, 464 & 465 OF IPC

The offence of forgery is basically made of two core requirements. Section 463 defines forgery as making of a false document with any of the intentions noted therein. Section 464 defines the making of the false document sufficient to be brought in within the cover of forgery. The resemblance between both the sections is that to commit forgery, the accused must have made a false document or part of it.

• ELEMENTS OR ESSENTIALS –
• The document or electronic record or part of the document or part of the electronic record must be false.
• Such making should be done with such intention as specified:
  • To cause damage or injury to public or person.
  • To support any claim or title.
  • To cause any person to part with property
  • To cause any person to enter into an express/implied contract
  • To commit fraud or that fraud may be committed.

In the case of Daniel Hailey Walcott v. State, the Madras high court listed the following elements of forgery:

1. The document or any part of it must be false in fact
2. It must be made deceitfully or deceptively as described within the purview of s.464
3. It must have been made with one of the intents specified in s.463 of IPC

MAKING OF FALSE DOCUMENT (SEC.464)

‘Section 464 of IPC talks about making of false document . It is essential that the false document, when made, must either appear on its face to be, or be in fact one, which, if true, would possess some legal validity, or in other words, must be legally capable of effectuating the fraud intended.’ Thus, forging a document as a ‘will’ alleged to be executed by a man will amount to this offence

Three forms of making false documents-

The three forms of creating a false document are-

1. By making, sealing, or executing a document so that the person tends to believe it to be made by an authority which in actual was not.
2. By cancellation of a document or an electronic record.
3. Act of causing another person to execute or alter a document with the knowledge that the matter thereof does not know the contents of the document or the nature of the alteration.

 Case laws for illustration-

1. L.K.Siddappa v. Lalithamma (1954)- where the accused printed & published an invitation card along with the victim’s name. The name was not authorized & he had done this with the intention to deceive. Therefore he was held liable.
2. Pera Raju’s case- The accused advertised of a sale of fictitious work in English idioms under the fictitious name ‘Wilson M.A.’. The price money of the book was received in his clerk’s name. The court held that the accused was guilty of cheating & forgery.
3. R v. Hart –  A person having a blank promissory note to be filled up to a certain limit exceeds it & he filled it with a huge amount in order to defraud the acceptor or any other person. The court held that it was a forgery
4. Sheonandan Paswan v. State of Bihar- The chief minister of a state made some changes in the contents of a document, but the file never left the office & nobody was affected by it. The court held that it was not forgery as there was no damage or injury to the public or any person.

AGGRAVATED FORM OF THE OFFENCE OF FORGERY

FORGERY VS FABRICATING FALSE EVIDENCE

Forgery-

1. It is the making of false electronic record or document
2. It must have been made dishonestly or fraudulently
3. The intention must be dishonest or fraudulent
4. It intends to cause damage or injury to the public or to any person
5. The object is to cheat by means of a false document

Fabricating false evidence-

1. It is fabricating evidence to cause any circumstances to exist
2. The particular mental intention to deceive or cheat is essential
3. Fabricating false evidence is to make it appear in evidence in a judicial proceeding/proceeding before a public servant/ arbitration
4. It must have been made to cause the authority to arrive at an erroneous opinion on any relevant point
5.  The object here is to cause a miscarriage of justice.

Anjali