In the ongoing investigation of the alleged illegal premature withdrawal of fixed deposits related to motor vehicle accident compensation by a senior city-based lawyer and his staff member, who have allegedly forged the signatures of judicial officers, the police have found that the accused have withdrawn money in as many as 15 cases.
This information came up during the hearing before II Additional District and Sessions Judge B.G. Naik of the bail application filed by A.C. Jayaraj, who has been accused of forging signatures of two judicial officers and prematurely withdrawing fixed deposit from Dena Bank.
Mr. Jayaraj and his office staff Sahana have been arrested. They are in judicial custody following a complaint in July last year by the court staff to the Mangaluru North police. In his judgment, rejecting the bail application on April 30, Mr. Naik noted that the investigation by the investigation officer prima facie revealed the use of forged documents for the premature withdrawal of fixed deposits that amounted to Rs. 34.88 lakh.
These deposits, the judge says, have been withdrawn contending that the original fixed deposits were misplaced while shifting the district court office from the old building to the new complex. The manager of Dena Bank, who had acted on the fake intimation, expressed doubts in one case and approached the office of the District Court. On verification, it was found that no such orders had been issued by the court.
The investigation officer, the judge says, has found material showing the forging of signatures of the then Principal District and Sessions Judges B.V. Prakash and Arun Chowdapurkar and of N.S.Patil, Principal Senior Civil Judge and Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mangaluru.
The investigation officer has recorded statements of persons to whom the fixed deposits were related to and also of Mr. Prakash and Mr. Chowdapurkar. The investigation officer has found that the fake seals used for creating the documents have been destroyed, the judge said. The two cases against Mr. Jayaraj were pending before II Additional Senior Civil Judge and Chief Judicial Magistrate. It has been posted to June 2 by the magistrate for taking cognisance of offences against Mr. Jayaraj and Ms. Sahana.
