Forgery case: Court orders FIR against 3 MEA officials, others

A local court has directed Delhi Police to register an FIR against six persons, including three officials of the External Affairs Ministry, for their alleged role in submitting a forged document in judicial proceedings.
Metropolitan magistrate Navita Kumari Bagha asked the station house officer of Tilak Marg police station to lodge the FIR on a complaint by Delhi-resident Satwant Singh Dahiya.
The complainant had sought registration of a criminal case against his step mother, her daughter and son-in-law and three officials of the ministry. He also said that some other unknown persons were also part of the conspiracy.
The court directed the police to investigate and file a report in the case before it on July 16.

"The police could not refuse to register FIR either on flimsy grounds based on the preliminary enquiry conducted by it or on the ground of reasonableness or credibility of information.
"In the present case, the material on record prima facie discloses cognisable offence and therefore application of the complainant under section 156(3) of CrPC is allowed and the SHO is directed to register the FIR..., investigate the matter properly and furnish report on July 16, 2013," it said.

Dahiya has alleged that his step mother Shakuntala had filed a special power of attorney (SPA), executed at the Embassy of India in Tokyo on August 6, 2008, in the Delhi High Court in a partition suit.

He said the SPA was allegedly sworn by Shakuntala in the presence of Manoj Kumar, then Assistant Consular Officer at the Embassy and witnessed by P K Gautam, then second secretary at the mission and another official G Anil Kumar.
He alleged in the SPA, these three mission officials have not only attested the document of Shakuntala, but also verified and identified her as the holder of an Indian passport, issued on November 29, 2004 by the Indian Embassy at Jakarta.