Forged sale agreement and land grabbing
Godwin
(Querist) 19 November 2014
This query is : Resolved
Sirs,
A relative (A) had a land measuring over 4 acres. The owner, now deceased, had given a GPA in 1988 while he used to travel overseas, to a close friend (B). However, this friend observing his signatures in the GPA, had made a sale agreement pre-dated by 3 years and 6 months and also had counter-signatures of (A) mentioning 80% of the consideration was made in cash payment. On the day (A) passed away in 2001, (B) brought this particular Sale Agreement and asked (A)'s wife and children to sign the document and (B) was paying the balance amount. The legal heirs however had no knowledge of such transaction or agreement whatsoever. so they declined insisting to show these documents to a lawyer. (B) refused to give a copy or show the agreement to (A)'s family. On the contrary, he filed a lawsuit in 2006 and the court decided the case in (B)'s favor. So (A)'s family appealed the judgment but the decision was upheld by the Appellate despite bringing to the notice of the lawyer that the documents would have been very likely forged by (B) for the purpose of grabbing the said land.
Now a forensic was done on all the signatures by an expert and found that all signatures on the sale agreement are forged whether of the agreement or of receipt of payments to (A). What best is the course of action for (A)'s family to take? Now an appeal has to be made in a higher court as the lower court has decreed in favor of (B) and the appellate court has upheld the same.
ajay sethi
(Expert) 19 November 2014
A family should file criminal complaint against B for cheating , criminal breach of trust , forgery etc .
what basis trial court and appellate court passed orders in favour of B ? were not documents referrd to hand writing experts
Devajyoti Barman
(Expert) 19 November 2014
case of cheating, forgery and criminal impersonation occurs here.
So lodge complaint accordingly preferably taking help of a lawyer.
Rajendra K Goyal
(Expert) 19 November 2014
Full case file need to be referred for advise in the matter. However, in the given facts agree with the experts.
Godwin
(Querist) 19 November 2014
Thanks you Sir/s for your valuable inputs.
(A)'s wife is low literate. She is not someone who would be able to read or understand anything. She was referred to a lawyer at outset by a neighbor but the outcome of initial hearing suggests the right arguments were not presented. Secondly, despite stressing that the documents would have been forged neither the initial lawyer nor the appeal lawyer (Different from the initial lawyer) bothered to raise the issue and request for a forensic investigation. Everything rested on this one document which had all 7 signatures (4 for the sale deed and 3 in respect to payment receipts in cash) forged and even a layman could differentiate them from the original signatures in the GPA, Passport, Farmers passbook and other Government issued documents. In respect to receipt of payments, (B) has produced affidavits from the "Witnesses" who were in presence while signing the sale agreement, who also signed as witnesses and at the time of receipt of payments and acknowledging the same by (A) by signing that on the Sale Agreement. Are these so called witnesses liable to be taken to task for the false statements?
Apparently, the Appeal lawyer of (A) was sharing the office with (B)'s lawyer and were colleagues, which, gives a benefit of doubt that the Appeal may have been compromised.
(B) is also habitual in land-grabbing from many other parties and has political as well as underworld clout. So this still is a complicated matter. (A)'s Forensic reports were done from a reputed and Neutral Consultancy on a personal level just to breathe life into the case. Isn't filing a Criminal case a distant thing as it may require to be proven by the court of law?
