Navi Mumbai: Two advocates have been arrested by Panvel City police in connection to the forgery in heirship certificate in PAnvel court in which the clerk of the court was previously arrested. The arrested advocates have been identified as Amar Patwardhan and Nitin Kelkar. Previously, Deepak Phad, clerk of the court, was arrested.
“The duo had allegedly along with the clerk made the forged order copies in the heirship petitions. How many had they made is being investigated,” senior police inspector Nitin Thakeray from Panvel Cuty police station said.
The advocates were arrested on Friday and have been remanded to police custody for nine days. Phad is under police custody till Januray 5 after which the police would be demanding an extension of the custody.
Since attaching an heriship certificate is mandatory before the release of plots from CIDCO’s 12.5% shcheme, Kamaladevi Narayandas Gupta had obtained a heirship certificate from the Panvel Court through a broker which allegedly was a fake one. She presented it to CIDCO officials.
However, since the certificate did not appear in the online system, CIDCO rejected it. Subsequently, when Gupta approached Advocate Mahesh Deshmukh, he filed an application in court regarding the fake heirship certificate.
Upon investigation, it was revealed that the certificate was forged, and the stamps and signatures of the judge and assistant superintendent on it were fake.
Following this, as per the court’s order, the superintendent of the court lodged a complaint in November at the Panvel City Police Station. Upon registering the complaint, the police initiated an investigation.
It was revealed that court clerk Phad, along with the advocates Amar Patwardhan and Nitin Kelkar, had allegedly prepared the fake heirship certificate, forged the signatures of the magistrate and the Assistant Superintendent, and affixed court seals on it.
According to police, that some court staff, brokers, and officials from CIDCO’s 12.5% department may also be involved in this case. “More accused are likely to be involved in the case and we are investigating the case further,” the officer added.
