Section 463 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 defines forgery. Making of a false document or certain parts of the document fake, the act amounts to forgery. By creating false documents, the offender intends to cause damage or injury to the public or an individual. It is also done to claim the title on a property or to remove other people from the property. The intentions are yet many. Once the act is satisfied as a forgery under Section 464, it has to imply the ingredients under Section 464. Only then, the person is subjected to the punishment under Section 465 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The false document is obtained by practising deception. Cheating and forgery seem almost similar terms. However, deception in cheating is oral, while deception in forgery is in writing. The government and real estate authorities together have been trying to make the property purchasing process simple and transparent every year in India. At the same time, the cases do appear in the Indian civil and criminal courts where the property buyers are duped in some way.
Knocking on the door of the judiciary is often time-consuming with a lot of expenses. However, one has to fight the battle lawfully. Below are various property fraud situations and the ideal ways to tackle them.
1. A situation where the owner sells his/her property to two buyers
When a seller decides to skip to the second buyer and sell his property, he should make sure that his agreement with the previous buyer should be first entirely cancelled.
From the first buyer's perspective, what if payment for the property has begun based on verbal agreement between him and the seller? Later, the seller resells the property to another buyer. The first buyer, in this case, can file a suit against the seller of the property to save the possession. He can proceed further to file a police complaint as well.
He can also send notice to the second buyer informing the situation in detail and claiming the possession of the property.
2. Property taken by someone without the agreement of the real owner
Suppose an elder member in a family dies, and he/she has some legal heirs who can rightfully own the property, but lack property papers. And to make matters even worse, in their absence some local agent visited and tricked a family member in signing the property-related documents. The fraudster registers the property and further sells the property to someone else.
What to do in such case? First, the legal heirs should file a case of cheating and fraud. The documents made to sign by the family member dubiously can also be filed in the court to prove it invalid. Every court consists of a Legal Services Authority in case the victim doesn't have money to pay the lawyer as fees. The court itself appoints lawyers to fight the case free of cost and pay them.
3. What if the seller’s family member interferes?
An agreement between the seller and buyer has been finalised and after-sale of the property, what if the seller's kids interfere? What to do when kids file a case against their mother/father (seller) asking for a share and the seller doesn't appear in the court for the hearing? Well, the buyer should take charge and be the defendant in the case and contest it on merits.