SC Pulls Up Gujarat Police Over Two-Decade Delay in Forgery Case

The Supreme Court has issued a stern directive to the Gujarat Police to finalize a long-pending probe within six weeks, citing the constitutional right to a speedy trial.

The Supreme Court of India has delivered a sharp rebuke to the Gujarat Police, demanding they complete a criminal investigation that has remained unresolved for nearly twenty years. A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and A G Masih emphasized that constitutional courts cannot remain passive observers when citizens are forced to struggle for justice due to administrative apathy and systemic delays.

A Two-Decade Legal Battle

The case involves a complaint originally filed in 2007, alleging that four individuals conspired to forge the complainant’s signature and fabricate property documents while he was away on a Haj pilgrimage in 2002. The accused allegedly used these fraudulent documents to secure unauthorized entries in revenue records. Despite forensic reports supporting the claim that the signatures were not genuine, the case has languished in procedural limbo for two decades.

The complainant has faced a grueling journey, moving from the trial court to the high court in a desperate bid to force the filing of a chargesheet. In 2014, a local magistrate rejected an initial police report and ordered a fresh probe to be finished within 60 days. Subsequent orders from the state high court in 2017 also failed to produce a final outcome, as it emerged that critical case records and material evidence had gone missing while in police custody.

Accountability and the Right to Justice

The apex court expressed deep concern over the loss of evidence, noting that such lapses strike at the very foundation of the criminal justice system. The justices highlighted that the right to a speedy trial is intrinsically linked to Article 21 of the Constitution. They observed that the Gujarat judiciary should have exercised its extraordinary powers to intervene long ago, rather than allowing the matter to remain in a state of suspended animation.

In its final order, the Supreme Court directed the authorities to submit a comprehensive report to the judicial magistrate within six weeks. This report must detail all available investigative material or explicitly account for any missing evidence. Furthermore, the state has been ordered to provide an affidavit explaining the disciplinary actions taken against officers responsible for the lost case records and why the magistrate was not kept informed of these failures throughout the years.