Indian Penal Code, 1860
464. Making a false document
A person is said to make a false document-
First- Who dishonestly or fraudulently makes, signs, seals or
executes a document or part of a document, or makes any mark denoting the
execution of a document, with the intention of causing it to be believed that
such document or part of a document was made, signed, sealed or executed by or
by the authority of a person by whom or by whose authority he knows that it was
not made, signed, sealed or executed, or at a time at which he knows that it
was not made, signed, sealed or executed; or
Secondly- Who, without lawful authority, dishonestly or
fraudulently, by cancellation or otherwise, alters a document in any material
part thereof, after it has been made or executed either by himself or by any
other person, whether such person be living or dead at the time of such
alteration; or
Thirdly- Who dishonestly or fraudulently causes any person to
sign, seal, execute or alter a document, knowing that such person by reason of
unsoundness of mind or intoxication cannot, or that by reason of deception
practiced upon him, he does not know the contents of the document or the nature
of the alteration.
Illustrations
(a) A has a letter of credit upon B for rupees 10,000 written by
Z. A, in order to defraud B, adds a cipher to the 10,000, and makes the sum
1,00,000 intending that it may be delivered by B that Z so wrote the letter. A
has committed forgery.
(b) A, without Z's authority, affixes Z's seal to a document
purporting to be a conveyance of an estate from Z to A, with the intention to
selling the estate to B, and thereby of obtaining from B the purchase-money. A
has committed forgery.
(c) A picks up a cheque on a banker-signed by B, payable to
bearer, but without any sum having. been inserted in the cheque. A fraudulently
fills up the cheque by inserting the sum of ten thousand rupees. A commits
forgery.
(d) A leaves with B, his agent, a cheque on a banker, signed by
A, without inserting the sum payable and authorizes B to fill up the cheque by
inserting a sum not exceeding ten thousand rupees for the purpose of making
certain payment. B fraudulently fills up the cheque by inserting the sum of
twenty thousand rupees. B commits forgery.
(e) A draws a bill of exchange on himself in the name of B
without B's authority, intending to discount it as a genuine bill with a banker
and intending to take up the bill on its maturity. Here, as A draws the bill
with intent to deceive the banker by leading him to suppose that he had the
security of B, and thereby to discount the bill, A is guilty of forgery.
(f) Z's will contains the these words-"I direct that all my
remaining property be equally divided between A, B and C" A dishonestly
scratches out B's name, intending that it may be believed that the whole was
left to himself and C. A has committed forgery.
(g) A endorses a Government promissory note and makes it payable
to Z or his order by writing on the bill the words "Pay to Z or his
order" and signing the endorsement. B dishonestly erases the words
"Pay to Z or his order", and thereby converts the special endorsement
into a blank endorsement. B commits forgery.
(h) A sells and conveys an estate to Z. A afterwards, in order
to defraud Z of his estate, executes a conveyance of the same estate to B, dated
six months earlier than the date of the conveyance to Z, intending it to be
believed that he had conveyed the estate to B before he conveyed it to Z. A has
committed forgery.
(i) Z dictates his will to A. A intentionally writes down a different
legatee from the legatee named by Z, and by representing to Z that he has
prepared the will according to his instructions, induces Z to sign the will. A
has committed forgery.
(j) A writes a letter and signs it with B's name without B's
authority, certifying that A is a man of good character and in distressed
circumstances from unforeseen misfortune, intending by means of such letter to
obtain alms from Z and other persons. Here, as A made a false document in order
to induce Z to part with property. A has committed forgery.
(k) A without B's authority writes a letter and signs it in B's
name certifying to A's character, intending thereby to obtain employment under
Z. A has committed forgery in as much as he intended to deceive Z by the forged
certificate, and thereby to induce Z to enter into an express or implied
contract for service.
Explanation 1- A man's signature of his own name may amount
to forgery.
Illustrations
(a) A signs his own name to a bill of exchange, intending that
it may be believed that the bill was drawn by another person of the same name.
A has committed forgery.
(b) A writes the word "accepted" on a piece of paper
and signs it with Z's name, in order that B may afterwards write on the paper a
bill of exchange drawn by B upon Z, and negotiate the bill as though it had
been accepted by Z. A is guilty of forgery; and if B, knowing the fact, draws
the bill upon the paper pursuant to A's intention, B is also guilty of forgery.
(c) A picks up a bill of exchange payable to the order of a
different person of the same name. A endorses the bill in his own name,
intending to cause it to be believed that it was endorsed by the person whose
order it was payable; here A has committed forgery.
(d) A purchases an estate sold under execution of a decree
against B. B, after the seizure of the estate, in collusion with Z, executes a
lease of the estate of Z at a nominal rent and for a long period and dates the
lease six months prior to the seizure, with intent to defraud A, and to cause
it to be believed that the lease was granted before the seizure. B, though he
executes the lease in his own name, commits forgery by antedating it.
(e) A, a trader, in anticipation of insolvency, lodges effects
with B for A's benefit, and with intent to defraud his creditors; and in order
to give a colour to the transaction, writes a promissory note binding himself
to pay to B a sum for value received, and antedates the note, intending that it
may be believed to have been made before. A was on the point of insolvency. A
has committed forgery under the first head of the definition.
Explanation 2- The making of a false document in the name of
a fictitious person, intending it to be believed that the document was made by
a real person, or in the name of a deceased person, intending it to be believed
that the document was made by the person in his lifetime, may amount to
forgery.
Illustration
A draws a bill of exchange upon a fictitious person, and
fraudulently accepts the bill in the name of such fictitious person with intent
to negotiate it. A commits forgery.