Srinagar, July 13, KDC: Jammu and Kashmir Police have registered a criminal case against three court employees and two private individuals following allegations that fabricated judicial records were used to obtain the signatures of a sitting judicial officer in Baramulla, according to an FIR registered on the directions of the Principal District and Sessions Judge.
The FIR, lodged at Police Station Baramulla on the complaint of Sub Judge (Judicial Magistrate) Majid Farooq Mir, stems from a preliminary fact-finding inquiry ordered after questions were raised over certified copies of a purported civil suit titled Rabia Rashid versus Abida Malik, shown as having been decided on January 22, 2021.
According to the complaint, no corresponding judicial record of the case was found in the District Court Record Room.
The complaint says the matter surfaced when an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) official sought certified copies of the judgment, decree, compromise and other records in the purported suit. The application was forwarded to the District Record Room in accordance with the usual procedure for issuing certified copies.
Record room officials later informed the court that the original file could not be traced. The complaint states that the In-charge Record Keeper then informed the Sub Judge that the 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 judicial officer’s signatures.
According to the FIR, a preliminary verification found that although the application for certified copies and the corresponding entry in the issuance register were available, the original judicial file relating to the case was missing. The matter was subsequently reported to the Principal District and Sessions Judge, who ordered an inquiry by the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Baramulla.
The complaint outlines the procedure for issuing certified copies, stating that ministerial staff prepare them on the basis of original court records before they are verified and placed before the authorised judicial officer for signature. It adds that judicial officers ordinarily rely on the certifications recorded by the dealing staff while issuing certified copies.
Citing the inquiry report, the complaint alleges that the officials concerned exploited this process by preparing fabricated documents, certifying them as genuine and presenting them for signature. The Principal District and Sessions Judge, in directions reproduced in the complaint, observed that the inquiry prima facie indicated that the officials, acting in connivance with the alleged beneficiary and others, had procured the judicial officer’s signatures through deception and used them to lend authenticity to forged judicial documents.
The inquiry also allegedly found that certified copies relating to the same purported suit had been issued earlier, but no record of their issuance from either the District Record Room or the court could be traced, according to the complaint.
The FIR names Abdul Ahad Lone, described as the then Record Keeper and Senior Assistant, along with Nisar Ahmad Bhat and Bashir Ahmad Peer, who were then serving as orderlies in the record room. It also names Rabia Rashid of Shirpora, Pattan, and Aabida Malik, who is now deceased.
Police have invoked Sections 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 316(5) (criminal breach of trust by a public servant), 318(4) (cheating), 337 (forgery of valuable security or judicial record), 339 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 340(2) (using a forged document as genuine) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The investigation has been assigned to an Inspector-rank officer at Police Station Baramulla. (KDC)
