NARSEE MONJEE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES,

SCHOOL OF LAW, BENGALURU

SUBMITTED BY

NAME - ANSH SRIVASTAVA

SAP ID - 81011219024

COURSE - BA LLB (HONS.) (2019-24)

SUBJECT – IPC

TOPIC - FORGERY FOR THE PURPOSE OF CHEATING: A CRITICAL

STUDY

SUBMITTED TO - MS.SUKANYA SINGH

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………...……3
2. ELEMENTS OF FORGERY UNDER SECTION 463 ………………4
1) FALSE MAKING ……………………………………………….……………..4
2) MATERIAL ALTERATION ………………………………………………..…4
3) INTENT TO DEFRAUD ………………………………………………………4
4) LEGAL EFFICACY …………………………………………………………...4
5) ABILITY TO DEFRAUD……………………………………………………...5
3. FORGERY FOR THE PURPOSE OF CHEATING ………………...6
4. SCOPE OF SECTION 468 ……………………………….……………7
5. ELEMENTS OF SECTION 468 ………………………………………7
6. GLOBAL SCENARIO ………………………………………….……...9
1) ENGLAND, WALES AND NORTHERN IRELAND ………………………....9
2) SCOTLAND ………………………………………………………………….…9
3) REPUBLIC OF IRELAND ………………………………………………….…10
4) CANADA ………………………………………………………………………10
5) THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ………………………………………10
7. CASE LAWS ……………………………………………….….……….12
1) State of Orissa v. Rabindra Nath Sahu …………………………………………12
2) Nand Kumar Singh v State of Bihar ……………………………………………12
3) Anisette lobo v. State …………………………………………………………...12
4) Chandra Mohan Choudhary v. State ……………………………………………12
8. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………….14

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 INTRODUCTION

The crime of forgery has indeed occurred from the time of the invention of printing. It was
enacted by the Lex Cornelia de falsies in Roman law that a person who falsely writes, seals,
public reads, or foists in forged will or other paper or makes cuts, moulds, a spurious seal should
be punished deliberately and maliciously-if a deported freeman and if a slave, with execution. In
Rome, the destruction of tomb inscriptions was also seriously punished.

In English common law, Blackstone refers to certain crimes in English common law, especially
the forging of state seals, which has been regarded as one form of treason. "In modern English
Common Law, however with the promulgation of the Forgery Act 1913, forgery became a
legally defined offence. "Forgery is the production of a fake document with the intention of
deceiving.

Section 1(10) of the Act defines forgery as ‘making a false document in order that it may be used
as genuine’. It defines the basic concept, but offences are created by other sections which impose
penalties ranging from two years, imprisonment to life, depending on the document forged and
the intent with which it was forged.

According to section 463 of the Indian penal code 1860- “ whoever makes any false documents
or false electronic record or a part of the document with the criminal intention to cause, or
knowing that he is likely to cause damage or injury to the general public or to any individual , or
to support any claim or title, or cause any person to part with property, or enter into implied or
express contract or with intent to commit fraud, commits forgery.”

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 ELEMENTS OF FORGERY UNDER SECTION 463

False making

The document or electronic record or the part of it must be false or fake in fact. For Example,
photocopying someone’s signature and then placing it on the legal document without their
consent or knowledge. Moreover, forgery mainly occurs in the field of art and literature.

Material alteration

The person must have taken a genuine document and changed it in some significant way, which
is intended to cover situations like false signatures or improperly filling in blanks on a form.

Intent to defraud

It must have been done with intent to deceive or cause damage to the general public or to any
person within the meaning of the words used in section 464 of Indian Penal Code. For instance,
the work of art can be copied or replicated but until and unless the accused tries to sell or
represent it as original copy, no crime has been committed.

Legal Efficacy

The false document or writing must have some legal significance which means it must affect
another person’s right to something. a writing related to social significance cannot be the subject
of forgery.

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Ability to defraud

The document or writing must look genuine enough to qualify as having the apparent ability to
fool most people. The specific state of mind for forgery only requires intent to fool people and it
does not require intent to steal.

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 FORGERY FOR THE PURPOSE OF CHEATING - SECTION 468

While Section 463 of Indian Penal Code deals with forgery, this section will be dealing with a
specific case of forgery that is forgery for the purpose of cheating, which is the main purpose of
the offender. This offence is non-compoundable, cognizable and non-bailable and it is triable by
Magistrate of First Class.

According to section 468 of Indian Penal Code -Whoever commits forgery, intending that the
document or electronic record forged shall be used for the purpose of cheating, shall be punished
with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 7 years, and shall also be
liable to fine.

Now before we understand what is the scope of section 468 we need to first understand what is
the difference between cheating and forgery.

Cheating has been defined under section 415 of the Indian penal code, 1860 as 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.

The main difference between cheating and forgery is that, in cheating the deception is oral
whereas in forgery the deception is in writing.

When a person causes harm to the person, body, mind, or to entire property, the person commits
cheating whereas when an accused has caused damage to the title of the property and the offence
relates to the property indirectly, has committed forgery.

Cheating can be committed with or without the knowledge of the owner of the property, but
forgery is always committed without the knowledge of the owner of the property.

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 SCOPE OF SECTION 468

Section 468 refers and prescribes penalty for the purpose of deception only in cases of forgery. It
is an aggravated form of forgery with an added ingredient that is 'cheating intent' which carries a
sentence of up to a prison sentence of 7 years. This clause occurs to if the defendant has
committed forgery with the intention of using a forged document or a forged electronic record
for cheating purposes.

Forgery is characterised as the occurrence of two elements: deceit or dishonesty. This crime
requires the unjust acquisition of assets which suggests the unlawful acquisition or holding of
assets. With the intent of theft, it is not important that the perpetrator use the paper for himself.
He does, moreover, plan to use it for stealing, rendering him, at last the cheat's partner or abettor.

ELEMENTS OF SECTION 468

The Forger's intention

Section 468 refers only to situations where for the purpose of deception, forgery is used. Forgery
has traditionally been identified as involving the involvement of one or either of the two
dishonesty or fraud elements. As theft is dishonesty when related to the distribution of goods,
and as stealing is an offence against land, it follows that the target of this offence is the
fraudulent acquiring of property.

Forgery is then a way to an end, the unlawful possession or preservation of property being the
end. This must be the goal of the forger, thoughts not appropriate to use the paper itself or to
cheat at all for the sake of cheating.

However, he must plan it to be used for stealing, which makes him the abettor of cheat at last. So
where a school master forgot a record of school attendance for the purpose of receiving

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government funds, in this provision he was held punishable. When the cheating is complete, and
the subsequent forgery is only intended to cover the offence, this section will not apply.

Proof:

The prosecution needs to build the

a) That the defendant committed forgery

b) That he did so with the intention of using the forged paper for cheating purposes.

The aim of section 468 ipc was to find out if anyone was tricked by the defendant by making
false records. If the prosecutor were to create forging documents and plan to use such forged
documents for cheating purposes, so only the defendant is responsible for conviction.

Prosecution is required to prove that:

a) The disputed document or electronic record is forged document

b) The accused forged the documents (vide Section 465)

c) He did so intending that the document or electronic record forged shall be used for the
purpose of cheating (vide Section 417).

To secure a conviction under Section 468 IPC, a heavy burden lies on the prosecution to prove
the ingredients of section 463.

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 GLOBAL SCENARIO

ENGLAND, WALES AND NORTHERN IRELAND

In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, forgery is an offence under section 1 of the Forgery
and Counterfeiting Act 1981, which provides:

A person is guilty of forgery if he makes a false instrument, with the intention that he or another
shall use it to induce somebody to accept it as genuine, and by reason of so accepting it to do or
not to do some act to his own or any other person’s prejudice.

"Instrument" is defined by section 8, "makes" and "false" by section 9, and "induce" and
"prejudice" by section 10.

Falsification can be tripled either direction. A person convicted of forgery is entitled to

imprisonment for a period not exceeding ten years, or on summary judgement, to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding the prescribed limit, or both, on
conviction on indictment.

For crimes similar to forgery, see Forgery, personification, and stealing in English criminal law.

For other purposes not connected to crimes committed since the beginning of the Forgery and
Counterfeiting Act 1981, the common law crime of forgery shall be repealed.

SCOTLAND

Forgery is not an official offence under the law of Scotland, except in cases where statute
provides otherwise.

The Forgery of Foreign Bills Act 1803 was repealed in 2013.

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REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

In the Republic of Ireland, forgery is an offence under section 25(1) of the Criminal Justice
(Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001 which provides:

A person is guilty of forgery if he or she makes a false instrument with the intention that it shall
be used to induce another person to accept it as genuine and, by reason of so accepting it, to do
some act, or to make some omission, to the prejudice of that person or any other person.

A person guilty of forgery is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding ten years, or to a fine, or to both.

Any offence at common law of forgery is abolished. The abolition of a common law offence of
forgery does not affect proceedings for any such offence committed before its abolition.

Except as regards offences committed before the commencement of the Criminal Justice (Theft
and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001 and except where the context otherwise requires, without
prejudice to section 65(4)(a) of that Act, references to forgery must be construed in accordance
with the provisions of that Act.

CANADA

Forgery is an offence under sections 366, 367 and 368 of the Canadian Criminal Code. The
offence is a hybrid offence, subject to a maximum prison sentence of:

If tried summarily: 6 months

If tried on indictment: 10 years

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

In all counties within the United States, both state and federal, forgery is a felony. Most states,
including California, define forgery as happening when an entity modifies a written document
"with the intent to defraud, knowing that he or she has no authority to do so." Generally, the
written document must be an instrument of legal significance. Punishments for falsification

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differ greatly. Forgery for an amount under $950 in California can result in misdemeanour
charges and no jail time, while a forgery with a loss of over $500,000 can result in three years in
jail for the forgery plus a five-year 'behaviour penalty' for the amount of the loss resulting in
eight years in jail. Forgery in the Third Degree, which is a Class B misdemeanor[16] in
Connecticut, is punishable by up to eight years in prison.

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 CASE LAWS

1. State of Orissa v. Rabindra Nath Sahu (2002) CrLJ 2327 (Ori), 93 (2002) CLT 571

The clause does not require the suspect to have committed the crime of forgery. For this
section, the material truth is that the accused committed forgery in order to use the forged
document for the purpose of cheating. However if the accused has used the forged document
for the purpose of cheating, he will become liable under section 468 and also for the crime of
cheating.

2. Nand Kumar Singh v State of Bihar AIR 1992SC 1939

In this case the accused was acquitted because the prosecution has no evidence that it was in
the knowledge and consent that the co-accused has forged the documents which reacted to
obtaining of LIC policies. The only evidence prosecution had was that the premium amounts
were credited to his account, which was not sufficient to prove the accused guilty.

3. Anisette lobo v. State AIR 1994 SC 1613

A1- was a bank employee, who took a blank draft on which A-5 forged the signature of their
agent A-3 and opened a new account in the name of a fictitious person and enchased the
cheques. In this case the accused were held liable and was rightly convicted for the offences
under section 467, 468, and 120B OF IPC.

4. Chandra Mohan Choudhary v. State 2008 CrLJ (NOC) 763 (MP)

the court held the conviction under section 468 to be proper when the accused person who
was cashier and customer of a bank, had entered into a conspiracy to overdraw money from
the bank and thus, had caused losses to the bank. The evidence established that both were
involved in defrauding the bank and the court observed that the accused cashier had caused

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 wrongful loss to the bank by using his position wrongfully used his position, in order to
obtain a pecuniary advantage not only to the co-accused customer but also to himself.

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 CONCLUSION

After analyzing various provisions dealing with Forgery, it can be concluded that impersonation,
altering the documents by causing interlineations and obliterations and receiving the documents
by exercising deception are three main elements to satisfy that a person has made a false
document or electronic record. Apart from this, dishonest or fraudulent intent to cause damage or
injury is the sine qua non for the offence of forgery. More often than not, it is incumbent upon
the prosecution to prove the intention of caused beyond a reasonable doubt.

It should be noted that under Section 463 intention is essential, five situations are provided in the
section. The intention is the essence of the offence of forgery. To constitute it, some damage or
injury must be intended to be caused by the false document to an individual or to the public.

Under section 464, it is stated that the act should be done dishonestly or fraudulently. Also, the
definition given in Section 463 is in itself subjected to section 464 that is defining the essential
ingredient of section 463. So, it can be said that whichever of the elements provided in section
463 is applicable, it should have been done fraudulently or dishonestly to support the allegation
of forgery.

When we talk about section 468 there are certain things which the prosecution needs to proof and
there are certain proofs which prosecution needs to build and in the end a charge of forgery often
boils down to intention, the burden of proof is on the prosecution to prove the intention of
accused beyond a reasonable doubt. The prosecution also needs to prove various elements that
are discussed above in brief.

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