Ahmedabad lawyer arrested for forging Metro Court order to obtain fake death certificate

The Gaekwad Haveli police on Tuesday arrested a 42-year-old advocate for allegedly forging an order of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Court to facilitate the creation of a fraudulent death certificate, officials said.

According to investigators, the accused has been identified as Mohammad Irfan Iqbalmiya Qazi, a practising lawyer since 2006 and a resident of Amir Park Society in Juhapura. Qazi is accused of drafting a bogus court order on his personal computer and presenting it to the Birth and Death Department at the city’s Health Bhavan in exchange for ₹50,000. The forged order was allegedly used to secure a fake death certificate for the mother of the main conspirator in the case.

Police said the fraudulent order purported to bear the seal and signature of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. Officials at the Birth and Death Department grew suspicious and alerted the police after cross-verifying the document with the Metro Court, which confirmed that no such order had been issued.

“The forged document was sophisticated enough to resemble an authentic court order, but verification with the court records revealed it was fake,” a senior Gaekwad Haveli police officer said. “We are investigating whether the accused acted alone or in connivance with other individuals.”

An FIR has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) about forgery of valuable securities, wills, or authority to make or transfer any valuable security, as well as for using forged documents as genuine.

Following a tip-off, police traced Qazi and took him into custody on September 24. Investigators are now probing whether the lawyer has been involved in similar offences in the past and are questioning him to identify the main conspirator and other potential accomplices.