Three Baramulla court employees booked for allegedly tricking sub judge into signing fake decree

Baramulla: Acting on directions issued by the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Baramulla, police have registered an FIR against three court employees and two alleged beneficiaries over accusations that they fabricated a judicial decree and procured the signatures of a sitting judicial officer on certified copies of what the complaint describes as a non-existent court record.

The FIR was registered at Police Station Baramulla on the complaint of Majid Farooq Mir, Sub Judge (Judicial Magistrate), Baramulla, after a preliminary fact-finding inquiry allegedly found that a civil suit titled Rabia Rashid versus Abida Malik, shown as decided on January 22, 2021, had no corresponding judicial record in the District Court Record Room.

According to the complaint, the matter came to light after an official of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sought certified copies of the final order, decree, compromise and related documents in the purported civil suit. The application was forwarded by the Sub Judge to the District Record Room for processing in the ordinary course of official business.

The complaint states that record room officials later informed the court that the original case file could not be traced.

The In-charge Record Keeper subsequently informed the Sub Judge that the accompanying ACB official possessed photocopies of certified copies of the same judgment and decree, purportedly issued from the District Record Room on June 28, 2025, bearing the Sub Judge’s signatures.

According to the FIR, a preliminary verification revealed that while the application seeking certified copies and the corresponding entry in the issuance register existed in the record room, no original judicial file relating to the suit could be found.

The Sub Judge then reported the matter to the Principal District and Sessions Judge, who ordered a fact-finding inquiry by the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Baramulla.

The complaint explains that certified copies are ordinarily prepared by ministerial staff on the basis of original judicial records and placed before the authorised judicial officer after being verified by the dealing assistant and the official comparing the copy with the original. It states that judicial officers generally rely on these certifications and do not independently compare every certified copy with the original file before signing it.

According to the inquiry report reproduced in the complaint, the staff members allegedly exploited this procedure by placing verification seals on fabricated documents and presenting them for signature, thereby inducing the Sub Judge to authenticate forged judicial records.

The order of the Principal District and Sessions Judge, quoted in the complaint, states that the inquiry prima facie indicated that the staff members, in connivance with beneficiary Rabia Rashid and other interested persons, procured the Sub Judge’s signatures through deception and used his official authority to lend authenticity to forged judicial documents.

The complaint further states that the inquiry found that certified copies relating to the same purported suit had allegedly been issued earlier on the certification of the same judicial officer.

However, according to the inquiry, no record of issuance of those certified copies from either the District Record Room or the court of the Sub Judge at the relevant time could be traced, raising further questions about their authenticity.

Based on the findings, police registered the FIR naming Abdul Ahad Lone, described in the complaint as the then Record Keeper and Senior Assistant, along with Nisar Ahmad Bhat and Bashir Ahmad Peer, who were then posted as orderlies in the record room. The FIR also names Rabia Rashid of Shirpora, Pattan, and Aabida Malik, who is now deceased.

The case has been registered under Sections 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 316(5) (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 318(4) (cheating), 337, 339 and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to forgery and use of forged documents as genuine. The investigation has been entrusted to an Inspector- rank officer of Police Station Baramulla.