Forgery of DU, CBSE certificates: Court quashes man's 7-yr jail term

A Delhi court has set aside a seven-year jail term given to a man allegedly for forging Delhi University and CBSE certificates for money, saying he was denied a chance to defend himself.

Special Judge Vikas Dhull set aside the trial court's sentence to the man, a north-west Delhi resident, holding that serious miscarriage of justice has taken place as he was not given the chance to explain his circumstances.

The sessions court remanded the matter to the trial court to give the accused an opportunity to present his stand on the evidence against him.

"Serious miscarriage of justice has taken place as appellant (accused) has been denied a right of explanation with regard to the circumstances which have come in the prosecution evidence against him. Therefore, the impugned judgment and sentence are not sustainable in the eyes of law. The same are accordingly set aside," the court said.

A trial court had on August 3 last year sentenced him to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him under sections 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 474 (possession of document knowing it to be forged and intending to use it as genuine) of the IPC.

According to the prosecution, the man was apprehended following a tip-off. The police team posed as persons in need of forged certificates of 10th and 12th standard and allegedly caught him on August 14, 2005 with forged documents.

The prosecution also claimed that after interrogation, they recovered various certificates of CBSE, Delhi University and other institutions from his residence along with a computer, rubber stamps, blank certificates, stationeries and other items used for preparing fake certificates and mark sheets.

The accused, in his appeal, claimed that the trial court had passed the order without appreciating the evidence before it.

He said that the place from where he was apprehended was a crowded place, yet the cops failed to rope-in any independent witness.

The accused also contended that the raid was conducted at his residence without informing the local police and the raiding team failed to pitch-in any neighbour as witness.

The sessions court, while allowing his appeal and setting aside the sentence, said it was a settled principle of law that if any part of incriminating material is not put to the accused during his examination, the same cannot be used for conviction.