The Ahmedabad Police on Tuesday have apprehended Morris Samuel Christian in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, after he allegedly set up a fraudulent tribunal, posed as its judge, and conducted proceedings that mimicked a real court environment.
This operation reportedly spanned at least 5 years, beginning with a favorable order he issued in a land dispute case in 2019.
Christian targeted individuals embroiled in land disputes pending before the city civil court, luring them with promises of favorable outcomes for a fee.
According to police reports, he presented himself as a court-appointed arbitrator, inviting clients to his office, which was designed to resemble an actual courtroom.
During these sessions, he issued rulings as the presiding officer of his sham tribunal, complete with accomplices posing as court staff or lawyers to lend an air of legitimacy to the proceedings.
The Ahmedabad city police arrested Christian following a complaint from the registrar of the city civil court. He faces charges of impersonating a public servant under Section 170 and cheating by personation under Section 419 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The investigation revealed that Christian had been deceiving clients by falsely claiming to be appointed by a competent court to resolve legal disputes.
In the 2019 case, Christian facilitated a claim for a client who wanted to have their name included in the revenue records for a government-owned plot in the Paldi area. Without any legitimate authority or court order issued under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, he falsely asserted his status as the “official arbitrator” and initiated fake proceedings.
He subsequently issued an order directing the district collector to add his client’s name to the land records.
To further this deception, Christian, through an accomplice lawyer, filed an appeal in the city civil court, presenting his fraudulent order as legitimate documentation.
However, registrar Hardik Desai recently discovered that neither Christian nor his tribunal held any genuine legal authority, leading to the filing of a complaint.
Following Desai’s report, Karanj police registered an FIR and arrested Christian, who has a prior cheating complaint from 2015 filed at the Maninagar police station. The authorities are investigating further to uncover the full extent of his fraudulent activities.
This incident highlights the serious issue of legal impersonation and the need for vigilance among individuals navigating land disputes.
