• Forged will

1)Can criminal court give a decision that a will document is a forged document on the only basis of fsl  report of handwriting expert on signature. Other all evidence are favouring the genuinity of the will.
2) what if criminal court decides that will document is forged one , will it affects the civil procedure in same matter.
Asked 7 years ago in Criminal Law
Religion: Hindu

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10 Answers

Police can also send and the court may also give direction for investigation of the document by FSL.

FSL report in itself is not a primary evidence, before passing an order on the basis of FSL report they court will examine the expert as per the provisions of the Indian Evidence Act.

Also if an order has been passed on the basis of FSL report alone, you can challenge the same and ask for further inspection by the CFSL.

Regards

Anilesh Tewari
Advocate, New Delhi
18090 Answers
377 Consultations

report of FSL would be conclusive as to whether will is forged or not

2)you can in civil proceedings rely upon judgment of criminal court wherein after consideration of evidence on record has convicted the accused for offence of forgery

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
96803 Answers
7810 Consultations

1. Yes it can

2. It will definitely affect the parallel pending civil case.

Vibhanshu Srivastava
Advocate, Lucknow
9659 Answers
307 Consultations

1. Criminal court can certainly decide whether signature of a will has been forged or not which automatically renders the will as invalid since signature of the testator in a will is the most important part. The report of the forensic expert can be challenged before the higher court.

2. If it is established before the Criminal court that the signature shown in the will is not the genuine signature of the testator and has been forged, then the said forensic report can be placed by the contestant of the probate application of the will before the Civil Court when the probate applicant of the will can pray for further sending the same to another forensic laboratory for cross verification of the said signature.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27453 Answers
726 Consultations

Court will send the will to the forensic laboratory for verification of genuineness of the signature of the testator of the will.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27453 Answers
726 Consultations

Hii, the court cannot decide the validity of the document .. However it may presume it's authenticity on the bases of Fsl report and the evidences produced before it ... The public prosecutor , police and even court can send for Fsl report in order to attain fair decesion of case .. However there are numerous authorities of Supreme Court , where Fsl is not considered 100 percent science and the court cannot grant a decesion merely upon the report

Hemant Chaudhary
Advocate, Gurgaon
4630 Answers
67 Consultations

A forged Will is generally one that was made without the deceased’s knowledge – however, a Will could also be considered fraudulent if a signature on the Will is forged, even if the deceased created it. Forgery of a Will is notoriously hard to prove in court, and is usually combined with an allegation of no knowledge or approval. Generally those cases which are won rely on the testimony of a handwriting expert who has found discrepancies between the signature on the Will and the actual signature of the deceased. As ever, though, showing that the Will contradicts wishes expressed by the deceased elsewhere can also be useful as evidence.

The report of FSL would be conclusive as to whether will is forged or not along with deposition of expert. The final evidence coupled with depositions of witness also considered by the court along with FSL.

In the case of Civil procedure the will will be proved through witness and scribe.FSl report and criminal case judgement also make influence in the final verdict .

Court permit to send the will to fsl for signature verification.

Ajay N S
Advocate, Ernakulam
4087 Answers
112 Consultations

1. FSL report alone cannot form the basis of conviction by the criminal court. The court is not bound by the report of FSL. It can only be in conjunctivity with the other evidence, if any.

2. The judgment of the criminal court is not binding on the civil court.

3. The IO can send the will for FSL examination.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

1. The FSL report is just an expert's opinion and not a conclusive evidence hence reliance on it alone would be fatal to justice. Generally the court will appreciate the witnesses deposing evidence before it before taking the help of such technical things.

2. The criminal court's decision will not impact the civil court decision, that has to be fought based on its own merits.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
87004 Answers
2335 Consultations

Who sent the will document to fsl for signature verification , Criminal Court or investing officer i.e. Police??

It can be sent at the instance of the person who disputes the genuineness of the Will.

The police will refer the same at the time of investigation and not after the charge sheets is submitted before court.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
87004 Answers
2335 Consultations

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