A person is said to make a false document or false electronic record - First - Who dishonestly or fradulently -
(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 electronic signature, with the intention of causing it to be believed that
such document or part of document, electronic record or 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 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 electronic signature on any electronic record knowing that such person by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication cannot, or that by reason of deception practiced upon him, he does not know the contents of the document or electronic record or the nature of the alteration.
Illustrations
(a) A has a letter of credit upon B for rupees 10,000 written by Z. A, in order 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.
(d) A leaves with B, his agent, a cheque on a banker, signed by A, without
inserting the sum payable and authorizes B to fill up the cheque by inserting a
sum not exceeding ten thousand rupees for the purpose of making certain payment.
B fraudulently fills up the cheque by inserting the sum of twenty thousand
rupees. B commits forgery.
(e) A draws a bill of exchange on himself in the name of B without B 's
authority, intending to discount it as a genuine bill with a banker and
intending to take up the bill on its maturity. Here, as A draws the bill with
intent to deceive the banker by leading him to suppose that he had the security
of B, and thereby to discount the bill, A is guilty of forgery.
(f) Z 's will contains the these words - "I direct that all my remaining
property be equally divided between A, B and C ." A dishonestly scratches out B
's name, intending that it may be believed that the whole was left to himself
and C. A has committed forgery.
(g) A endorses a Government promissory note and makes it payable to Z or his
order by writing on the bill the words "Pay to Z or his order" and signing the
endorsement. B dishonestly erases the words "Pay to Z or his order", and thereby
converts the special endorsement into a blank endorsement. B commits forgery.
(h) A sells and conveys an estate to Z. A afterwards, in order to defraud Z of
his estate, executes a conveyance of the same estate to B, dated six months
earlier than the date of the conveyance to Z, intending it to be believed that
he had conveyed the estate to B before he conveyed it to Z. A has committed
forgery.
(i) Z dictates his will to A. A intentionally writes down a different legatee
from the legatee named by Z, and by representing to Z that he has prepared the
will according to his instructions, induces Z to sign the will. A has committed
forgery.
(j) A writes a letter and signs it with B 's name without B 's authority,
certifying that A is a man of good character and in distressed circumstances
from unforeseen misfortune, intending by means of such letter to obtain alms
from Z and other persons. Here, as A made a false document in order to induce Z
to part with property. A has committed forgery.
(k) A without B 's authority writes a letter and signs it in B 's name
certifying to A 's character, intending thereby to obtain employment under Z. A
has committed forgery in as much as he intended to deceive Z by the forged
certificate, and thereby to induce Z to enter into an express or implied
contract for service.
Explanation 1. - A man's signature of his own name may amount to forgery. Illustrations
(a) A signs 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.
(b) A writes the word "accepted" on a piece of paper and signs it with Z 's
name, in order that B may afterwards write on the paper a bill of exchange drawn
by B upon Z, and negotiate the bill as though it had been accepted by Z. A is
guilty of forgery; and if B, knowing the fact, draws the bill upon the paper
pursuant to A 's intention, B is also guilty of forgery.
(c) A picks up a bill of exchange payable to the order of a different person of
the same name. A endorses the bill in his own name, intending to cause it to be
believed that it was endorsed by the person whose order it was payable; here A
has committed forgery.
(d) A purchases an estate sold under execution of a decree against B. B, after
the seizure of the estate, in collusion with Z, executes a lease of the estate
of Z at a nominal rent and for a long period and dates the lease six months
prior to the seizure, with intent to defraud A, and to cause it to be believed
that the lease was granted before the seizure. B, though he executes the lease
in his own name, commits forgery by antedating it.
(e) A, a trader, in anticipation of insolvency, lodges effects with B for A 's
benefit, and with intent to defraud his creditors; and in order to give a colour
to the transaction, writes a promissory note binding himself to pay to B a sum
for value received, and antedates the note, intending that it may be believed to
have been made before. A was on the point of insolvency. A has committed
forgery under the first head of the definition.
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.
Explanation 3. - For the purposes of this section, the expression "affixing 2 [electronic signature]" shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
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