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―Criminal Procedure Code, Sections 195(1)(b)(ii) and 340-
Offence with regard to forgery of document- If a document was forged
and thereafter produced in the Court, then aggried party can file a
complaint-Bar of Section 195(1)(b)(ii) will not apply-Section
195(1)(b)(ii) Cr.P.C. would be attracted only when the offences
enumerated in the said provision have been committed with respect to a
document after it has been produced or given in evidence in a
proceedsing in any court i.e., during the time when the document was in
custodial egis.‖
CRL.M.C. 1991/2012 and other connected petitions
Since in the present case the forgery is alleged to have been committed
prior to filing of the documents before the Court, so in view of the
abovesaid case-law, the bar of Sec.195(1)(b)(ii)Cr.P.C is not attracted in
the present case.‖
―23. In view of the language used in Section 340 CrPC the court is not
bound to make a complaint regarding commission of an offence referred
CRL.M.C. 1991/2012 and other connected petitions
to in Section 195(1)(b), as the section is conditioned by the words
―court is of opinion that it is expedient in the interests of justice‖. This
shows that such a course will be adopted only if the interest of justice
requires and not in every case. Before filing of the complaint, the court
may hold a preliminary enquiry and record a finding to the effect that it
is expedient in the interests of justice that enquiry should be made into
any of the offences referred to in Section 195(1)(b). This expediency
will normally be judged by the court by weighing not the magnitude of
injury suffered by the person affected by such forgery or forged
document, but having regard to the effect or impact, such commission
of offence has upon administration of justice. It is possible that such
forged document or forgery may cause a very serious or substantial
injury to a person in the sense that it may deprive him of a very valuable
property or status or the like, but such document may be just a piece of
evidence produced or given in evidence in court, where voluminous
evidence may have been adduced and the effect of such piece of
evidence on the broad concept of administration of justice may be
minimal. In such circumstances, the court may not consider it expedient
in the interest of justice to make a complaint. The broad view of clause
―25. An enlarged interpretation to Section 195(1)(b)(ii), whereby
the bar created by the said provision would also operate where
after commission of an act of forgery the document is
subsequently produced in court, is capable of great misuse. As
pointed out in Sachida Nand Singh [(1998) 2 SCC 493] after
preparing a forged document or committing an act of forgery, a
person may manage to get a proceeding instituted in any civil,
criminal or revenue court, either by himself or through someone
set up by him and simply file the document in the said proceeding.
He would thus be protected from prosecution, either at the
instance of a private party or the police until the court, where the
document has been filed, itself chooses to file a complaint. The
litigation may be a prolonged one due to which the actual trial of
such a person may be delayed indefinitely. Such an interpretation
would be highly detrimental to the interest of the society at large.‖
CRL.M.C. 1991/2012 and other connected petitions
***
V. The said application deserves to be dismissed because
the law relating to the bar engrafted in Section 195(1)(b)(ii) of
the Code of Criminal Procedure is not applicable to a case
where forgery of the document was committed before the
document was produced in the court. As such, the documents
forgery of which have been committed were not the custodia
legis.‖