Supreme Court Orders Probe into Fabricated Document Case: Integrity of Legal Proceedings Under Spotlight
In a significant turn of events, the Supreme Court has ordered a criminal investigation after discovering a fabricated document presented as an order from the apex court itself. The bench, comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal, took this action after identifying inconsistencies in the orders annexed to a Special Leave Petition (SLP).
The court’s suspicion was first aroused in August when two contradictory orders were attached to a petition filed in a civil case. Both orders, dated July 25, 2022, were purportedly passed by the same bench and bore identical case numbers. However, while one order dismissed the case, the other surprisingly indicated that the plea had been allowed. According to the court’s records, the case was actually dismissed.
The court stated,
“It is obvious from the report (of the registrar) that the document purporting to be a copy of the order of this Court which is marked by Annexure-III in the report is a fabricated document. Therefore, the Registrar (Judicial Listing) must set the criminal law in motion by lodging a complaint with the jurisdictional police station.”
Following these discrepancies, a complaint was lodged by a litigant. Acting on this, the court directed the Registrar (Judicial) on August 22 to conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit a report. The court had emphasized,
“If the Registrar (Judicial) finds that this is a case of fabrication of orders of this Court, it follows that the criminal law will have to be set in motion.”
Upon reviewing the Registrar’s report, the court confirmed that one of the orders attached to the SLP was indeed fabricated. The court also noted that the concerned advocate did not appear despite being issued a notice. The bench remarked,
“It is for the investigating agency to examine the role allegedly played by the advocate.”
To facilitate the investigation, the court directed the Registrar to provide a copy of the order, along with the relevant annexures, when lodging the complaint. Additionally, the Officer in-charge of the concerned Police Station has been instructed to submit a report on the investigation within two months from the date of the order.
The case, titled “Manish Madanmohan Agarwal v. Satyanarayan Dhulichandji Agrawal,” underscores the importance of maintaining the integrity and authenticity of legal documents and proceedings.
