PUDUCHERRY: A Puducherry court on Friday has sentenced a man from Kancheepuram to rigorous imprisonment for fraudulently obtaining French citizenship by forging documents and impersonating members of another family, in what is the third conviction secured by the CBCID in such cases.
The case dates back to August 25, 2011, when Veerasamy of Murungapakkam lodged a complaint with the CBCID. He stated that when his family approached the French Embassy in 2005 to apply for French citizenship, the French Consulate officials informed them that French citizenship had already been granted in their family's name.
The consulate also handed over documents submitted by the impostors, revealing that forged records had been used while impersonating Veerasamy's family members, his brothers Palani and Moorthy and mother Kasthuri.
Following the complaint, the CBCID registered a case and launched an investigation. The probe revealed that Venkatachalapathy of Mazhuvukaranai village in Kanchipuram district, along with his mother Vedavathi, Velayudham of Kurusukuppam, and Kamaraj of Kurinji Nagar, Lawspet, had allegedly forged documents, impersonated members of Veerasamy's family, and fraudulently obtained French citizenship.
A charge sheet was filed under Sections 419, 420, 468 and 471 read with Section 34 of the IPC, and the case was chargesheeted in 2017 before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court, Puducherry.
Delivering the verdict on Friday, Chief Judicial Magistrate EMK Yashwantrao Ingersoll found Venkatachalapathy guilty and sentenced him to three years' rigorous imprisonment under Section 419 IPC, four years each under Sections 420 and 468 IPC, and two years under Section 471 IPC. He was also fined Rs 1,000 under each count, with a default sentence of three months' imprisonment for non-payment of each fine. The court directed that all the sentences would run concurrently.
The case against co-accused Velayudham has been split up (he is yet to be arrested) as he is reported to be in France. Another accused, Vedavathi, died during the trial. Kamaraj, a former Municipal employee, was acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
The investigation was carried out by CBCID Inspectors Tamilarasan, Shekar and Babuji, while Assistant Public Pleader S Lokeswaran represented the prosecution.
According to the CBCID, this is the third case in which convictions have been secured in investigations involving forged documents and impersonation to obtain French citizenship illegally.
