BENGALURU: Observing that the allegations against the court staff committing fraud against the court are serious, the 51st Additional City Civil and Sessions Court refused to grant anticipatory bail to Girish D, working as a bailiff in the Small Causes Court in the city. He had allegedly served a notice to the fake tenant to hand over the possession of the property to the fake owner.
Judge Yashawanth Kumar noted that Girish’s custodial interrogation is required. The public prosecutor, representing the CID probing the case, filed a report before the court stating that though Girish was aware that the property belonged to the complainant, AT Ravikumar, he served notice to the fake tenant, John Pinto, to hand over the property to the fake owner, Shanmugam Chettiyar, without visiting the place and making a proper inquiry about Pinto. He did not obtain identification proof from Pinto.
The judge noted that Girish had not brought the alleged fraud to the notice of the Small Causes Court. He appears to be involved in the fraud, which is not only against the complainant but also society and the court, the judge said.
The Bharathi Nagar police have registered the case against seven accused and others based on Ravikumar’s complaint filed in 2016, alleging that he is the owner of the property bearing No.7 on St John’s Road, Ward No. 90, measuring 5,272 sqft. The accused broke open the gate of the property, and changed the colour of the building, name board and lock.
The police came to know that the accused created fake documents for Ravikumar’s property and filed an eviction suit before the Small Causes Court and obtained an order to evict John Pinto. The parties later compromised and obtained a decree. They filed an execution petition and obtained an order to evict the tenant from the property and take illegal possession of the property. After April 2019, to save his property, Ravikumar paid Rs 50 lakh to accused John Moses and his henchmen, against whom 120 similar cases have been registered.