MADURAI
A petition filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday alleged that the signatures of an advocate and his client were forged for filing a change of vakalat (changing the lawyer in the case), subsequently leading to the dismissal of a petition, and sought a probe.
The petitioner, M. Mohamed Ali of Tirunelveli, complained that the signatures of his father and his advocate were forged. His father had inherited family property from his grandfather. However, the petitioner said, a civil suit was preferred by his three aunts against his father inheriting double the share of the property.
His father had inherited his share of the property in accordance with the Mohammedan law. After the lower courts had ruled in favour of his aunts, his father filed a civil revision suit in 2010, the petitioner said.
The petitioner’s father became bedridden during the pendency of the suit in 2016. In 2017, he learnt of the fact that the civil revision petition was dismissed in 2016 itself. Further, a change of vakalat was filed in the case. As his father had been confined to bed, the petitioner said, he could not have given priority to changing his advocate.
With his father passing away in 2017, the petitioner was given the power of attorney to prosecute the case. He said that a complaint about the same was made to the Registry. However, a complaint was preferred to the State Bar Council to look into the matter.
The petitioner claimed that some influential people were behind the development with an eye on the property and sought a direction to the Registry to register a criminal case to be probed by the Madurai Commissioner of Police. A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S.S. Sundar ordered that the case bundle should be preserved and adjourned the hearing till April 10.