The Madras High Court has directed the police at Vriddhachalam in Cuddalore district to conduct a thorough investigation into a person having produced a fake death certificate of his grandmother. It has also directed the police to arrest all those involved in the fabrication of the certificate.
Justices S. Vaidyanathan and A.D. Jagadish Chandira further directed the Additional Superintendent of Police to monitor the investigation. The orders were passed on a habeas corpus petition filed by the woman’s another grandson Selladurai accusing the other grandson Rajkumar of having abducted her.
Since the woman had died, the judges closed the petition. However, they took a serious note of Rajkumar having reportedly produced a fake death certificate of Sembayee and said such an act could not be taken lightly.
According to the petitioner, Rajkumar had abducted Sembayee with the intention of grabbing her properties. Following his complaint, the police found that the elderly woman had been admitted to an orphanage in Tiruchi. The orphanage claimed that she had died and was buried in the orphanage burial ground.
When the police summoned Rajkumar for inquiry, he produced a fake death certificate which had been obtained when the grandmother was alive. Later, after perusing the documents produced before the court, the judges wrote, “It appears that Sembayee had died not once but twice... In this State, a person can have two birth certificates but not two death certificates.”
Further inquiry led to a statement by the Vriddhachalam Tahsildar that the death certificate produced by Rajkumar was a fabricated one. On finding that Rajkumar was trying to play with the court, the judges ordered a police inquiry that led to the registration of a case of forgery against him on July 18.
Passing final orders on the petition, the judges directed the police to pursue the case and secure the accused persons.
