Fake certified copies in non-existent case: Police register FIR on Sub-Judge’s complaint in B’la

Srinagar, Jul 13: Police have registered an FIR in Baramulla on the complaint of the Sub‑Judge regarding the issuance of purported certified copies of a judgment and decree in a case that was never instituted or filed.
The complaint, filed by Majid Farooq Mir, Sub-Judge (Judicial Magistrate), Baramulla, names certain court staff and private individuals for offences including criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and criminal breach of trust.
According to the Sub‑Judge’s complaint, an application was submitted on June 13, 2026 by an official of the Anti‑Corruption Bureau (ACB), Baramulla, seeking certified copies of the final order, decree, and compromise in a civil suit titled “Rabia Rashid vs Abida Malik”, purportedly decided by the Court of sub‑judge on 22.01.2021.
When the District Record Room was asked to issue the copies, officials reported that the case file was “not traceable.” However, ACB officials produced photocopies of “certified copies” of the order and decree dated 28.06.2025, allegedly bearing the sub‑judge’s signature.
A preliminary verification by the In-charge Record Keeper revealed that while an application and a corresponding entry in the Issuance Register did exist, the actual case file was missing.
The matter was referred to the Principal District & Sessions Judge, Baramulla, who ordered a fact‑finding enquiry by the Additional District & Sessions Judge. The Principal District & Sessions Judge directed the Sub-Judge (Judicial Magistrate), Baramulla-who prima facie appears to have been cheated and whose signatures were fraudulently procured on fabricated certified copies—to lodge an FIR in the matter under intimation to his office.
In his communication, the Principal District & Sessions Judge observed: “The circumstances emerging from the said report and the findings of the enquiry officer prima facie indicate that the staff members named in the report, in connivance with the beneficiary Rabia and other interested persons, have fabricated certified copies of judgment and decree and dishonestly procured the signature of the Sub-Judge, Baramulla, thereby cheating him and playing fraud so as to lend authenticity to forged judicial documents.”
The Judge further directed the Sub‑Judge to inform the ACB that the judgment and decree, certified copies of which were sought, though bearing his signatures, are fake and fabricated, as no such civil case has ever been filed in the Court of Sub-Judge, Baramulla. (KNO)