Srinagar, Sep 26: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has granted interim bail to a woman advocate in a case pertaining to alleged fabrication and use of forged judicial records in a court in Baramulla.
A bench of Justice Sanjay Parihar also directed that the investigation in the case (FIR No. 99/2026) registered at Police Station Baramulla be transferred to the Crime Branch (CB) of police.
The CB has been asked to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising senior officers for carrying out the investigation.
The FIR relates to allegations of fabrication of a purported decree and certified copies in connection with a civil suit titled Rabia Rashid v. Mst. Abida Malik. The allegations surfaced after the original judicial file could not be traced, while purported certified copies of the decree and order were found to be available.
A subsequent fact-finding inquiry allegedly pointed to manipulation of the process for issuance of certified copies.
The court noted that several accused persons had been arrested during the investigation and that mutations concerning land had allegedly been affected on the strength of the purported decree.
It pointed out that the investigation was still in progress and that the alleged forged decree itself had not yet been recovered, though an electronic device allegedly used in preparing the document had been seized.
The allegations, if established in accordance with law, had serious implications for the integrity of judicial records and the justice-delivery system, the court noted.
It accordingly underscored that the investigation required further strengthening and supervision and transferred it to the CB.
As regards the advocate, the prosecution alleged that she was involved in procuring and using the purported decree, while her counsel maintained that she had no role in its fabrication and had merely been asked to obtain certified copies.
While granting the interim bail, the court held that the advocate had spent around 15 days in custodial interrogation, had cooperated with the investigation and had no previous criminal antecedents on the material before it.
The court also took note of her personal circumstances, including that she was the mother of a 12-month-old breastfeeding child.
The interim bail will remain in force until the filing of the charge-sheet, after which her further custody and appearance will be governed by the orders of the trial court.
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