Pune:
An accused in a case of forgery and copyright violation has allegedly secured anticipatory bail from the Bombay High Court using a fake order with a forged signature of a Pune court judge, police said on Thursday.
The accused, Haribhau Chemte, got the bail in January, and is currently on the run, they said.
According to police, CTR Manufacturing Pvt Ltd, a Pune-based firm, filed a complaint in 2022 after finding their patented drawings and designs had been misused by a Chennai-based company.
Investigations suggested that some employees of CTR, in collusion with officials from the accused firm, were involved in the unauthorised use of these proprietary designs.
Chemte, who worked in the quality control department at CTR Manufacturing between 2016 and 2017, was allegedly involved in the design theft, as per police sources.
The Vimantal police in Pune registered a case in 2022 on charges of forgery and copyright violation. During the investigation, Chemte’s name also cropped up and he was named among the several accused in the case.
“Chemte, whose anticipatory bail application was pending before the Bombay High Court, hatched a conspiracy,” a police officer said.
“He faked a court order under Section 169 of the CrPC, bearing the forged signature of a Judicial Magistrate (First Class) in January this year, and submitted the fraudulent handwritten order to the Bombay High Court to secure bail,” the official said quoting the fresh FIR now registered against the accused.
Section 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) allows for the release of an accused if there is insufficient evidence to justify further legal proceedings.
The HC granted him anticipatory bail on January 17, as per the police.
The complainant in the original forgery case flagged the suspicious order, prompting the high court to vacate the bail granted to Chemte and initiate an inquiry into the fraud, the official said.
Subsequently, the complainant approached the Vimantal police station, where the original forgery and copyright violation case was registered, and lodged a fresh complaint against Chemte, who is currently on the run.
The Vimantal police on Tuesday registered a fresh case against Chemte under sections 337 (forgery of public records and documents), 339 (possessing a forged document or electronic record with intent to use it as genuine), 246 (dishonestly making a false claim in court) and 318 (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
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