Fake court busted in Gujarat; conman who passed orders as 'judge' arrested

Ahmedabad: Police have arrested a man after he allegedly set up a fake tribunal, posed as its judge and passed orders creating the ambience of a real court at his office in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, officials said.

The accused, Morris Samuel Christian, passed an order in favour of his client in a case related to a government land way back in 2019, they said, indicating the bogus court was functioning at least for the last five years.

A preliminary probe indicated Christian used to trap people whose cases of land disputes were pending before the city civil court. He used to take a specific amount from his clients as fees for solving their case, police said on Monday.

Christian would first establish himself as a court-appointed official arbitrator, call his clients at his Gandhinagar-based office which was designed to look like a court, and pass a favourable order as the presiding officer of the tribunal, according to the police.

His accomplices would stand as court staff or lawyers to create an impression that proceedings were genuine, an official release said.

The Ahmedabad city police have arrested Christian for allegedly cheating people by posing as a judge of an arbitral tribunal and passing favourable orders claiming he has been appointed as an arbitrator by a competent court to adjudicate legal disputes, it said.

The conman faced action and his bogus court was busted after a complaint was filed at Karanj police station here by the city civil court registrar.

Christian has been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 170 (pretending to hold any office as a public servant) and 419 (cheating by personation), said the release.

In 2019, Christian passed an order in favour of his client using the same modus operandi. The case was pertaining to a government land under the district collector while his client had staked claim on it and wanted to add his name in revenue records related to the plot in question located in Paldi area, it said.

Without an authority or order issued by any court under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, Christian told his client he has been appointed as the "official arbitrator" by the government.

The conman then initiated fake proceedings at his 'court' and passed an order in favour of his client, directing the collector to add his client's name in the revenue records of that land, the release said.

To implement the order, Christian, through another lawyer, filed an appeal in the city civil court and attached the fraudulent order passed by him.

The court registrar, Hardik Desai, recently found out that Christian is neither an arbitrator nor is the order of the tribunal genuine.

Following his complaint, the Karanj police lodged an FIR and arrested the conman, who is already facing a cheating complaint filed at the city's Maninagar police station in 2015, said the release.

Inputs from PTI.