Authorities have uncovered a fraudulent operation led by an individual posing as a judge within a fictitious tribunal, issuing ‘judgments’ since 2019, particularly concerning land transactions in the Gandhinagar region. Morris Samuel Christian, who has since been apprehended, is alleged to have executed a scheme that deceived numerous individuals into believing they were participating in a legitimate judicial process. According to police reports, Morris, the architect of this intricate deception, utilized a gavel to render decisions favoring his clients, all while operating within the confines of his fabricated office environment. The sham tribunal, which bore a striking resemblance to an actual courtroom, functioned undetected for several years, with its origins traced back to 2019. Initial investigations indicate that Morris targeted unsuspecting victims embroiled in land disputes, offering quick resolutions in return for substantial fees. By adopting the guise of a judge, he took advantage of the vulnerable, skewing the justice system for his own financial benefit.
The intricate deception involved Morris’s accomplices masquerading as court officials, thereby constructing a veneer of credibility to mislead his clients. The elaborate performance, which included a simulated courtroom environment in Gandhinagar, provided an illusion of authenticity to his fraudulent activities. In 2019, Morris issued a ruling favoring his client by employing the same deceptive tactics. This case concerned a parcel of government land overseen by the district collector, with his client asserting a claim to it and seeking to have his name recorded in the revenue documents pertaining to the plot located in the Paldi area, as stated in a police announcement on Monday. Without any legitimate authority or court order issued under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, Morris falsely informed his client that he had been designated as the “official arbitrator” by the government. He then commenced fictitious proceedings in his ‘court’ and rendered a decision in favor of his client, instructing the collector to update the revenue records to include his client’s name for that particular land, according to the release.Morris, through a different attorney, initiated an appeal in the city civil court to execute the order, submitting the fraudulent order he had issued. Recently, the court registrar, Hardik Desai, discovered that Morris is neither an arbitrator nor is the tribunal’s order authentic. In response to this revelation, the Karanj police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against him under sections 170 (impersonating a public servant) and 419 (cheating by impersonation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The individual was apprehended for allegedly deceiving people by masquerading as a judge of an arbitral tribunal and issuing favorable orders, falsely claiming to have been appointed by a competent court to resolve legal disputes, as stated in the release. Furthermore, it was noted that the accused is already facing a cheating complaint that was lodged at the Maninagar police station in 2015.