Legal Provisions of Section 467 of Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Forgery of valuable security, will etc:
Forgery of valuable security, will, etc. has been punished under this section. The section states that whoever forges a document which purports to be either a valuable security or a will, or an authority to adopt a son, or which purports to give authority to any person either to make or transfer any valuable security, or to receive the principal, interest, or dividends thereon, or to receive or deliver any money, movable property, or valuable security, or any document purporting to be an acquittance or receipt acknowledging the payment of money, or an acquittance or receipt for the delivery of any movable property or valuable security, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with simple or rigorous imprisonment for a term extending up to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
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ADVERTISEMENTS:
The offence under this section is aggravated form of forgery. It is a very serious offence as the punishment prescribed shows. Where a person who is not to sign a document signs it for the purpose of making it a valid document he is guilty of signing a false document. As such copying the signature of an agent on a blank draft form of that bank by a co-conspirator was held to be an offence under this section. Getting registered a sale deed by impersonating the real owner is punishable under this section.
Where the charge against the accused that he had forged a nikah form did not mention the circumstances under which the alleged forgery was committed and the evidence adduced could not establish the charge, the conviction of the accused under this section could not be maintained. Aiding and abetting in the detachment of used stamps from old files and using them again in other cases does not amount to forgery or use of forged document. Forging a copy of a document which is a valuable security was held to be not punishable under this section.
A certificate forged by a candidate seeking admission in a college was held to be not a valuable security. Dishonestly or fraudulently collecting money sent by money order by personating as the payee is punishable under this section. Where the accused got the signature of an account holder forged on a withdrawal form and thus drew the money, he would be guilty under this section even if the identity of the person who forged the signature is not known.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Where the accused, who was a Reader holding M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees, was held guilty of attempting to issue counterfeit degrees for gain and sentenced by the lower court till the rising of the court, it was held that the sentence was too lenient and deserved to be raised to three years’ imprisonment. But where twenty three years had elapsed since the accused committed an offence under this section, the sentence was reduced to that already undergone.
The offence under this section is non-cognizable, non-bailable and non- compoundable, and is triable by magistrate of the first class.
