The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted two women who had been convicted of forgery and cheating in connection with a U.S. visa application, holding that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
Justice Sandeep Moudgil observed that although the divorce decree submitted at the U.S. Embassy was later found to be forged, the prosecution neither established who prepared the document nor proved that the petitioners had knowledge of its falsity. The Court found no evidence to show that the petitioners authored the decree or acted with fraudulent intent.
The trial and appellate courts had earlier convicted the women under Sections 420, 465, and 467 of the IPC, sentencing them to two years’ rigorous imprisonment. The High Court, however, ruled that the mere submission of a document subsequently discovered to be forged, without proof of knowledge or intent, cannot sustain a conviction. It further highlighted serious lapses in the investigation, including the failure to identify the makers of the forged decree and the absence of verification reports on record.
Reiterating that the burden of proof in criminal cases always rests with the prosecution, the Court held that in cases resting on circumstantial evidence, the chain of circumstances must be complete and consistent only with the guilt of the accused. In the present case, the gaps in the prosecution’s case created a reasonable doubt, which, in line with settled principles of criminal jurisprudence, had to operate in favour of the accused.
Concluding that the petitioners were not aware of the forgery and acted under a bona fide belief that the decree was genuine, the High Court set aside the concurrent findings of the lower courts and acquitted them by extending the benefit of doubt.
Appearances:
Mr. Suvir Sidhu, Advocate for the petitioners.
Mr. Jasjit Singh Rattu, DAG Punjab
