Judgment Intelligence
FIR QuashedPooja v. State of U.P. & Anr.
2026 INSC 1119
Criminal Appeal No. 4902 of 2026 (arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 6715 of 2026)
- Court
- Supreme Court of India
- Date of Decision
- 12 October 2026
- Bench
- Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran
- Relevant Acts & Sections
- Indian Penal Code, 1860 — Sections 420, 465
Final Outcome
Appeal allowed; the proceedings in Case No. 16720 of 2024 (Crime No. 94 of 2024), pending before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-I, Muzaffarnagar, quashed (paras 6-8).
Key holdings
- A certificate issued by the competent authority on an application cannot be called forged merely because the applicant gave a wrong date (para 5).
- Furnishing a wrong date does not by itself make out an offence under Section 420 or Section 465 IPC (para 5).
- Where the error was corrected and no benefit was obtained from the certificate, continuing the prosecution serves no useful purpose (paras 5-6).
Judgment digest by NyayVidhan: a summary of the court's judgment, not its text. The judgment itself is the authoritative version.
Brief Facts
The appellant obtained a death certificate for her mother from the Panchayati Raj department of Uttar Pradesh through an online application made at a Jan Sewa Kendra (paras 3-4). On a complaint by a person unconnected with the family that the death occurred on 20.11.2019 and not 21.11.2019, the District Panchayat Raj Officer found the date wrong, an FIR was registered at Police Station Chhapar, a charge-sheet was filed and cognizance taken (paras 2-3). She said her sister, with whom she had civil disputes, instigated the complaint, and that she gave the date in good faith on her sister's information (para 4).
Court's Findings
The certificate was admittedly issued by the competent authority of the Panchayati Raj department, so no forgery or criminal breach of trust could be found in its issuance (para 5). Furnishing a wrong date cannot lead to an allegation of an offence under Section 420 or Section 465 IPC (para 5). In any event, the date of death had been corrected, and there was no allegation that the appellant used the certificate to obtain any benefit (para 5). The one-day difference could also be a mistake (para 5). No useful purpose would be served by continuing the prosecution (para 6).
Legal Principle
Giving a wrong date in an application on which a competent authority issues a certificate, without use of the certificate for any benefit, does not make out cheating under Section 420 or forgery under Section 465 IPC (para 5).
