Gandhinagar: Police have apprehended a man for allegedly establishing a counterfeit tribunal, impersonating a judge, and issuing orders, thereby simulating the environment of an authentic court in his office located in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The suspect, Morris Samuel Christian, is said to have issued a ruling in his client’s favour regarding a government land dispute dating back to 2019, suggesting that the sham court had been operational for at least the past five years.
Initial investigations revealed that Christian would ensnare individuals with pending land dispute cases before the city civil court. He reportedly charged his clients a certain fee to resolve their cases, as stated by the police on Monday.
Christian purportedly presented himself as an arbitrator appointed by the court, summoned his clients to his office in Gandhinagar, which he had fashioned to resemble a courtroom, and issued a favourable ruling as the head of the tribunal, the police reported.
The official release stated that the accomplices posed as court staff or lawyers to give the impression that the proceedings were legitimate.
Christian was arrested by the Ahmedabad city police for allegedly defrauding individuals by impersonating a judge of an arbitral tribunal and issuing favourable rulings under the pretence of being an arbitrator appointed by a competent court to resolve legal disputes.
The fraudulent operation was exposed and shut down following a complaint lodged at the Karanj police station by the registrar of the city civil court.
Christian is charged under sections 170 (impersonating a public servant) and 419 (cheating by impersonation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), according to the release.
