Will-forgerers now face criminal action

Where there is a will there is a way. In legal parlance, the last testament left behind by a person, also called his will, has to be executed through the process of decree so that the beneficiaries can legally own property or any other asset bequeathed to them under the will.
Trials over will are quite frequent and invariably the charge of forgery is made to discredit even a genuine claim.But in case there is a genuinely forged will, can an aggrieved person seek criminal action against the perpetrators of forgery who have brazenly taken the court for a ride to secure its seal of approval on a fabricated document?
There are conflicting views on the issue as it is felt that since a civil court takes a decision on the veracity of a document in question like a will, no criminal action can be initiated by the aggrieved persons who are allegedly denied their rightful due. But, another perception says there cannot be any prohibition on an aggrieved party in resorting to criminal action when made to face legal proceedings on the basis of fabricated documents.
Should the civil action stand as a barrier between criminal action against persons who have allegedly played fraud with the legal process? The answer is ''no''.
In a recent judgment by a Constitution Bench, the Supreme Court dealt with this controversy and held that a person aggrieved by a forged document, particularly a will, can file a private criminal complaint under certain relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, and the Code of Criminal Procedure would not come in its way.
In other words, this judgment delivered by a Bench of Chief Justice R C Lahoti, Justices B N Agrawal, H K Sema, G P Mathur and P K Balasubramanyan offers a remedy for persons who are seriously affected by forgery to seek far more deterrent measures through criminal prosecution.
In fact, section 467 of the IPC, which directly covers cases of "forgery of valuables, security will etc" provides for punishment between 10 years and life term. Thus, it is a non-bailable offence.
A grave offence as this cannot be tried through a private complaint. There must be a proper criminal case registered with an investigating agency, the police or CBI, and after investigation the persons who have filed such forged documents, as specified in the section, can be tried and punished.
Lawyer Y P Narula, who argued for the party aggrieved by a suspected forged Will, has lauded the verdict, saying: "It would surely act as a deterrent against playing fraud with the process of court."
Moreover, Narula says the fear of losing the share on the basis of forged documents would be minimised as the victims could resort to criminal action.