Advocates are entitled to use the mandatory court stamp papers for filing of cases and during the annual audit, as many as 75 cases filed between April 4, 2014 and December 15, 2019, in Pudukkottai and the court fee of Rs 27.66 lakh were found to be in colour photocopy of papers attached with the cases.

Shocked by this, the Chief Executive Officer of Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Pudukkottai, A Paularaj lodged a complaint with the District Crime Branch Police on Wednesday night in which the CEO said that the court stamps were forfeited and the information was brought to the notice of the District Judge.

Based on the complaint, the DCB Inspector Anitha Arokiyasamy registered a case and commenced the investigation.

The police said, the cases filed between various durations and identifying the advocates who used the photocopies are in process. The police also said that the front page of the paper was said to be the genuine one and the other additional papers were fake ones. “Still, we are in the process of scrutiny of these copies. We hope that we could get a lead at the earliest and the progress of the case would be intimated from time to time,” a police official added.