Assignment on INDIAN PENAL COURT (FORGERY)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
S.NO. TOPIC PAGE NO.
1. Acknowledgement 3
2. Introduction 4
3. Forgery- Historical Background 5
4. Forgery under IPC 6
5. Distinction between cheating and forgery 10
6. Ingredients for forgery 11
7. Forgery distinguished with fraud 12
8. What is forgery? 14
9. Forgery, case study 16
10. Conclusion 18
11. Bibliography 19
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It gives me immense pleasure and gratitude to thank my IPC law teacher Mr. Aquib Hussain,
who gave me opportunity to do this wonderful project which helped me in doing a lot of
research and I came to know about so many new things. I am really thankful to him.
Secondly, I would like to give thanks to all my seniors who have guided throughout the
research process.
Lastly, I feel that my project would not have been completed without the help of my parents
and friends.
YOURS SINCERELY,
Deepesh Kumar Singh
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INTRODUCTION
Forgery means fraudulent making or alteration of any record, deed, writing, instrument,
register, stamp, etc., to the prejudice of another man’s right. It is a false making of any
written instrument for the purpose of fraud or deceit; including every alteration of or addition
to a true instrument.
Forgery is the false making or materially altering with intent to defraud, of any writing
which, if genuine, might apparently be of legal efficacy, or the foundation of a legal liability.
According to Section 463 of the Indian Penal Code, “Whoever makes any false documents or
false electronic record or part of a document or electronic record, with intent to cause damage
or injury, to the public or to any person, or to support any claim or title, or to cause any
person to part with property, or to enter into any express or implied contract, or with intent to
commit fraud or that fraud may be committed, commits forgery.”
The term ‘fraud’ in Section 463 implies an infringement of someone’s legal right though not
necessarily connected with deprivation of property. Intent to defraud implies (a) an intention
to deceive and (b) such deception involving the causing of legal injury. Unless there is an
element of fraud, the making of a false document would not amount to a forgery.
It should be noted that intention to cause injury is not an essential ingredient of the offence of
forgery. As per Section 463, intention to cause damage or injury to the public or person is
only one of the five situations. The other situations being: (i) to support any claim or title (ii)
cause any person to part with property; (iii) enter into any implied or express contract; or (iv)
with intent to commit fraud. The first component, namely, intention to cause damage is intent
complete in itself.
The definition in Section 463 is itself subject to the definition in Section 464, in which the
two essential elements are that the act should be done ‘dishonestly and fraudulently’. In other
words, whichever of the intents as provided in Section 463 are applicable, the act itself must
be done dishonestly and fraudulently to sustain the allegation of forgery.
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Forgery – Historical Background
The art of forgery is as old as the alphabet. The crime of forgery has been practiced since
ancient times in every country where writing existed, and paper was used for financial
transactions. Laws against forgery can be traced to 80 BC when the Romans prohibited the
falsification of documents that transferred land to heirs. Forgery was prevalent in Europe in
the middle Ages. Gradually laws were passed to prohibit forgeries in every developed
country, but it was difficult to identify some of the highly skilled forgeries. In 1562, a statute
was passed in England prohibiting forgery of publicly recorded, officially sealed documents.
These documents pertained to titles for land. In 1726, an expansion of the forgery laws made
a false endorsement on an unsealed private document a capital crime punishable by death.
Pillory, fines, and imprisonment were the penalties in cases not subject to capital punishment.
In 1819 in England, an issue of one-pound notes consisting of simple pen and ink inscriptions
on ordinary white paper proved irresistible to a great mass of people. Over the next 7 years,
94,000 people were arrested and 7700 were sentenced to death.
In the United States, the principal federal forgery statute prohibiting false making, forgery, or
the alteration of any writing for obtaining financial gain was enacted in 1823. The American
Law Institute’s Model Penal Code of 1962 simplified and defined the elements of forgery and
became the standard for defining the crime of forgery.
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with
the intent to deceive for the sake of altering the public perception, or to earn profit by selling
the forged item. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries,
though they may later become forgeries through knowing and wilful misrepresentations.
Forging money or currency is more often called counterfeiting. But consumer goods may also
be counterfeits if they are not manufactured or produced by the designated manufacturer or
producer given on the label or flagged by the trademark symbol. When the object forged is a
record or document it is often called a false document.
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Forgery under IPC-
463. Forgery.— [Whoever makes any false documents or false electronic record or part of a
document or electronic record, with intent to cause damage or injury], to the public or to any
person, or to support any claim or title, or to cause any person to part with property, or to
enter into any express or implied contract, or with intent to commit fraud or that fraud may be
committed, commits forgery. 1
The elements of forgery under Section 463 are-
1. The document or electronic record or the part of it must be false in fact;
2. The making of false document or electronic record should be with intent to:
a) Cause danger or injury to: (i) the public, or (ii) to any person; or
b) Support any claim or title; or
c) Cause any person to part with property; or
d) Enter into any express or implied contract; or
e) Commit fraud or that fraud may be committed.
The term ‘fraud’ in Section 463 implies an infringement of someone’s legal right though not
necessarily connected with deprivation of property. Intent to defraud implies (a) an intention
to deceive and (b) such deception involving the causing of legal injury. Unless there is an
element of fraud, the making of a false document would not amount to a forgery.
It should be noted that intention to cause injury is not an essential ingredient of the offence of
forgery. As per Section 463, intention to cause damage or injury to the public or person is
only one of the five situations. The other situations being: (i) to support any claim or title (ii)
cause any person to part with property; (iii) enter into any implied or express contract; or (iv)
with intent to commit fraud2. The first component, namely, intention to cause damage is
intent complete.
1
Section 463- Indian Penal Court
2
Sushil Suri v. C.B.I, (2011) 5 SCC 708;
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Nahul Kohli v. State3, if a document, which is not genuine, is being used as such and a person
is made to part with money on that basis then not only the offence of cheating as defined u/s
415 IPC but also the offence of forgery as defined u/s 463 IPC is attracted.
The definition in Section 463 is itself subject to the definition in Section 464, in which the
two essential elements are that the act should be done ‘dishonestly and fraudulently’. In other
words, whichever of the intents as provided in Section 463 are applicable, the act itself must
be done dishonestly and fraudulently to sustain the allegation of forgery.
Section 464- Making a false document. [A person is said to make a false document or false
electronic record-
First —who dishonestly or fraudulently—
(a) Makes, signs, seals or executes a document or part of a document;
(b) Makes or transmits any electronic record or part of any electronic record;
(c) Affixes any 342 [electronic signature] on any electronic record;
(d) Makes any mark denoting the execution of a document or the authenticity of the 342
[electronic signature],
with the intention of causing it to be believed that such document or part of document,
electronic record or 342 [electronic signature] was made, signed, sealed, executed,
transmitted or affixed by or by the authority of a person by whom or by whose authority he
knows that it was not made, signed, sealed, executed or affixed; or
Secondly —Who, without lawful authority, dishonestly or fraudulently, by cancellation or
otherwise, alters a document or an electronic record in any material part thereof, after it has
been made, executed or affixed with 342 [electronic signature] either by himself or by any
other person, whether such person be living or dead at the time of such alteration; or
Thirdly —Who dishonestly or fraudulently causes any person to sign, seal, execute or alter a
document or an electronic record or to affix his 342 [electronic signature] on any electronic
record knowing that such person by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication cannot, or
3
2010 CrLJ 4536
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that by reason of deception practised upon him, he does not know the contents of the
document or electronic record or the nature of the alteration.]4
Illustrations-
(a) A has a letter of credit upon B for rupees 10,000 written by Z. A, to defraud B, adds a
cipher to the 10,000, and makes the sum 1,00,000 intending that it may be believed by B that
Z so wrote the letter. A has committed forgery.
(b) A, without Z 's authority, affixes Z 's seal to a document purporting to be a conveyance of
an estate from Z to A, with the intention of selling the estate to B, and thereby of obtaining
from B the purchase-money. A has committed forgery.
(c) A picks up a cheque on a banker signed by B, payable to bearer, but without any sum
having been inserted in the cheque. A fraudulently fills up the cheque by inserting the sum of
ten thousand rupees. A commits forgery.
Explanation 1. —A man's signature of his own name may amount to forgery. Illustrations
A sign his own name to a bill of exchange, intending that it may be believed that the bill was
drawn by another person of the same name. A has committed forgery.
Explanation 2. —The making of a false document in the name of a fictitious person,
intending it to be believed that the document was made by a real person, or in the name of a
deceased person, intending it to be believed that the document was made by the person in his
lifetime, may amount to forgery.
Illustration- A draws a bill of exchange upon a fictitious person, and fraudulently accepts the
bill in the name of such fictitious person with intent to negotiate it. A commits forgery.
An analysis of s. 464 of Penal Court shows that it divides false documents into three
categories:
a- The first is where a person dishonestly of fraudulently makes or executes a document
with the intention of causing it to be believed that such document was made or
4
Section 464, Indian Penal Court.
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executed by some other person, or by the authority of some other person, by whom or
by whose authority he knows it was not made or executed.
b- The second is where a person dishonestly or fraudulently, by cancellation or
otherwise, alters a document in any material part, without lawful authority, after it has
been made or executed by either himself or any other person.
c- The third is where a person dishonestly or fraudulently causes any person to sign,
execute or alter a document knowing that such person could not by reason of (a)-
unsoundness of mind; or (b)- intoxication; or (c)- deception practised upon him,
know the contents of the document or the nature of the alteration.
Mir Nagvi Askari v. C.B.I.5- Court held that, a person is said to have made false document or
record if he satisfies one of the three conditions as noticed hereinbefore and provided for
under the said section.
First condition, being that the document has been falsified with the intend of causing it to be
believed that such document has been made by a person, by whom the person falsifying the
document knows that it was not made.
Second criteria, of section deals with a case where a person without lawful authority alters a
document after it has been made. There has been no allegation of alteration of the voucher in
question after they have been made.
The third condition of section 464 deals with a document, signed by a person who due to his
mental capacity does not know the contents of the documents which were made i.e. because
of intoxication or unsoundness of mind etc.
Making of a false document- False document is said to have been made when a person
dishonestly or fraudulently makes a document with the intention of causing it to be believed
that such document was made by some other person.
Issuance of caste certificate- Harvir Singh v. state of Madhya Pradesh6, SDO issued a caste
certificate. The application of the same has been supported by the father of the applicant.
Later, the high-power scrutiny committee cancelled the certificate. A complaint was filled
alleging forgery, cheating, conspiracy etc. The high court held that, no offence of forgery was
5
AIR 2010 SC 528: (2009) 15 SCC 643
6
2016 CrLJ 3608 (MP) : 2016 (2) JLJ 422
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constituted as neither signature nor seals, etc., of SDO was forged but the caste certificate
was issued by the SDO, himself and therefore it was not a false document in the eyes of law
acc. to the provisions of s. 464 of IPC.
Punishment for Forgery – Section 465 of Indian Penal Code:
Whoever commits forgery shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a
term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both.
Distinction between Cheating and Forgery-
1) Whoever, by deceiving any person, fraudulently or dishonestly induces the person so
deceived to deliver any property, to any person, or to consent that any person shall retain any
property, or intentionally induces the person so deceived to do or omit to do anything which
he would not do or omit if he were not so deceived, and which act or omission causes or is
likely to cause damage or harm to that person in body, mind, reputation or property, is said to
cheat (Sec. 415).
But, whoever makes any false documents or false electronic record or part of a document or
electronic record, with intent to cause damage or injury, to the public or to any person, or to
support any claim or title or to cause any person to part with property, or to enter into any
express or implied contract, or with intent to commit fraud or that fraud may be committed,
commits forgery (Sec. 463).
2) Cheating may be caused by oral statement or through documents while forgery is always
caused on a document.
3) In Cheating, the wrong-doer deceives a person and obtains property or any other profit
whereas forgery may be committed to draw a sum of money from a bank account and other
properties, and to claim property as of right basing upon the cooked, concocted and forged
documents.
4) Cheating relates to entire property while forgery relates to the title of the property and the
offence relates to the property indirectly.
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5) By the offence of cheating, the accused may cause damage or harm to the person in body,
mind, reputation or property whereas by forgery, the accused can cause damage or harm to
the title deeds and property only.
6) Cheating is committed with or without the knowledge of the owner of the property.
Sometimes, tricks are played to induce the owner of the property, who delivers the property
to accused. But, forgery is committed without the knowledge of the owner of the property.
7) The Cheating is an offence relating to ‘the offences against property’ while forgery is an
‘offence relating to documents and to property marks’.
8) Punishment for cheating is imprisonment of either description for a term which may
extend to one year, or with fine or with both (Sec. 417) whereas punishment for forgery is
imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or
with both (Sec. 465).
Ingredients for Forgery-
Forgery is the false making or material alteration of a writing, where the writing has the
apparent ability to defraud and is of apparent legal efficacy with the intent to defraud. Thus,
the elements of forgery are:
False making – The person must have taken paper and ink and created a false document from
scratch. Forgery is limited to documents. “Writing” includes anything handwritten,
typewritten, computer-generated, printed, or engraved.
Material alteration – The person must have taken a genuine document and changed it in some
significant way. It is intended to cover situations involving false signatures or improperly
filling in blanks on a form.
Ability to defraud – The document or writing has to look genuine enough to qualify as having
the apparent ability to fool most people.
Legal efficacy – The document or writing has to have some legal significance affecting
another person’s right to something. A writing of social significance cannot be the subject of
forgery.
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Intent to defraud – The specific state of mind for forgery does not require intent to steal, only
intent to fool people. The person must have intended that other people regard something
false as genuine. A forgery is complete upon having created such a document with this
requisite intent.
The identity of the victim or victims, or proof that the offender intended to defraud a person
is not an essential element of the offense of forgery, nor is the actual deception of any
individual or proof that anyone actually relied on the forged instrument 7. Proof that a forged
document was stolen is not an element of the offense8. Moreover, monetary gain or other
misappropriation by the forger, or actual prejudice or injury to any individual need not be
proven9.
Krishtappa case10, letters or marks imprinted on trees and intended to be used as evidence
that the trees had been passed for removal by the ranger of a forest are a document within the
meaning of s.29. A person counterfeiting such marks on a tree is guilty of making a false
document within the meaning of this section.
The antedating of a document is not forgery, unless it has or could have operated to the
prejudice of someone11. Incorporation or inclusion of a false statement in a document would
not ipso facto make the document false. For a document to be false, it has to tell a lie about
itself12
Publication of Book- There was allegation that the accused person, in order to induce the
public to purchase the book, falsely represented that the book was by certain person. There
was no allegation that the accused himself had written the book and represented it to be that
of some other person. The court said such allegations, even if true, do not make out a case of
forgery. The offence of cheating could not also be said to have been made out because it was
a consequential offence.13
7
State v. Thompson, 194 Ariz. 295, 981 P.2d 595 (Ct. App. Div. 1 1999)
8
State v. Mason, 79 Haw. 175, 900 P.2d 172
9
Johnson v. State, 412 So 2d 822
10
(1925) 27 Bom LR 599.
11
Gobind Singh, (1926) 5 Pat 573.
12
A.K. Khosla v. T.S.Venkatesan, 1994 CrLJ 1448 (Cal).
13
Guru Bipin Singh v. Chongtham Manihar Singh, AIR 1997SC 1448.
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Forgery distinguished with fraud-
Difference between fraud and forgery is must know fact as fraud and forgery are not two
alien terms for the modern world. We often see and hear of such stories in media. Fraud
refers to any form of deception of an individual or organization for monetary gain. This is
considered a crime by law. Forgery, on the other hand, is the act of imitating any form of an
object to deceive someone. This clearly states that these are not the same. The difference
between fraud and forgery is that the forgery is a form of fraud. The aim of this article is to
explain the difference between fraud and forgery while explaining the terms individually.
Forgery is the action of creating an exact replica of an object with the intention of deceiving
another. The object can be a document, statistics, painting, sculpture or any other form of an
object. This replica or the fraudulent copy is usually called a forge. However, copying
something does not necessary turn it to a forgery. The intention of deceiving and the misuse
of objects have to be accompanied for it to be a forgery. We often hear of money or currency
being forged. In this case, it is referred to as counterfeiting. Forgery is a just one technique of
fraud. This is considered a crime.
So to sum up, both fraud and forgery are considered crimes and are used in criminology as a
criminal offence. However, fraud and forgery are not the same.
• Fraud refers to the wilful deception of someone for the purpose of monetary gain.
• Fraud includes a variety of forms from tax fraud to bank fraud.
• Forgery, on the other hand, is also a deception of another through imitating an object. This
replica allows the person to deceive others.
• So, forgery is usually a method used for fraud.
In today’s world, due to the rapid development of technology it has become difficult to fight
fraud and forgery especially for legal authorities.
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What is Forgery?
To secure a conviction of forgery, the prosecution must prove several elements, or factors.
These include the following.
Making, altering, using, or possessing. The first element of forgery is that a person must
make, alter, use, or possess a false writing. When they think of forgery, many people think
only of making false writings, such as forging letters or certificates, but altering an existing
writing may also be forgery if the alteration is "material," or affects a legal right. For
example, forging another person's signature on a document is a material alteration because it
misrepresents the identity of the person who signed the document, which has serious legal
consequences. Deleting, adding, or changing significant portions of documents may also be
"material" alterations, if these changes affect the legal rights or obligations represented in the
documents. Additionally, as discussed above, using or possessing false writings also
constitutes forgery, although in some jurisdictions this is known as "uttering a forged
instrument."
A false writing. Not all writings meet the definition of forgery. To serve as the basis for
forgery charges, the writing in question must have both legal significance and be false, as
discussed below.
The writing must have apparent legal significance. In order to be punishable as forgery, the
writing in question must have apparent legal significance. This includes government-issued
documents such as drivers' licenses and passports; transactional documents such as deeds,
conveyances, and receipts; financial instruments such as currencies, checks, or stock
certificates; and other documents such as wills, patents, medical prescriptions, and works of
art.
To have legal significance, a document need not necessarily be a legal or government-issued
document--it must simply affect legal rights and obligations. For this reason, documents such
as letters of recommendation or notes from physicians may also be the subjects of forgery. In
contrast, signing another person's name to a letter to a friend would probably not constitute
forgery, because in most cases it would not have legal significance.
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The writing must be false. To be considered false, the writing itself must be fabricated or
materially altered so that it purports to be or represent something that it is actually not.
Generally, simply inserting false statements into a writing is not enough to meet this
requirement, if those misrepresentations do not change the fundamental meaning of the
writing itself. For example, if you insert a false statement into a letter you wrote, you have
not committed forgery. However, it is forgery if you write a letter of legal significance, but
present it as a letter written by someone else.
With the intent to defraud. In order to be guilty of forgery, the defendant must have
intended to defraud someone or some entity, such as a government agency (though the fraud
need not have been completed). This element prevents people who possess or sign fraudulent
documents, without knowing that the documents are false, from being subject to criminal
liability. For instance, if you purchase a used car, but later find out that the title to the car was
forged by the seller, you would not be subject to forgery charges for the possession of the
forged title because you had no intent to defraud.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS REFERRED:
1. RATANLAL & DHIRAJLAL, INDIAN PENAL CODE (35TH
EDITION)
2. PSA PILLAI, CRIMINAL LAW
3. K.D GAUR, LAW OF CRIMES
WEBSITES REFERRED:
1. http://www.the-laws.com/Encyclopedia/Browse/Case?
CaseId=313691870000.
2. http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/article/mens-rea-in-statutory-
offences-831-1.html.
3. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/132472/13/13_conclusi
on%20and%20suggestion.pdf.
4. http://india.lawi.asia/state-of-maharashtra-v-mayer-hans-george-6/.
5. https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1564263/.
6. http://www.lawweb.in/.
7. http://www.scconline.com.
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