Ahmedabad Police Arrest Conman Running Fake Court as Judge for Five Years

A man in Gujarat has been arrested for establishing a fake tribunal and posing as its judge, according to police reports. Morris Samuel Christian allegedly created a courtroom atmosphere in his Gandhinagar office and issued orders favouring his clients. This fraudulent activity, which began in 2019, involved cases related to government land.

Christian's arrest by Ahmedabad city police followed a complaint from the city civil court registrar. He is accused of deceiving people by pretending to be an arbitrator appointed by a competent court. The charges against him include impersonating a public servant and cheating by personation under the Indian Penal Code.

Fake Tribunal Setup

Christian reportedly targeted individuals with pending land disputes in the city civil court. He charged them fees, claiming he could resolve their cases. By presenting himself as an official arbitrator, he invited clients to his office, designed to mimic a real court. There, he would pass favourable orders as the tribunal's presiding officer.

His accomplices played roles as court staff or lawyers to enhance the illusion of legitimacy. In one instance from 2019, Christian issued an order favouring a client who claimed government land in Paldi. The client sought to have their name added to revenue records for the plot.

Fraudulent Proceedings Uncovered

Christian falsely informed his client that he was appointed as an official arbitrator by the government without any legal authority or court order under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. He then conducted sham proceedings and directed the district collector to update the revenue records accordingly.

To enforce this bogus order, Christian filed an appeal in the city civil court through another lawyer, attaching his fraudulent order. However, Hardik Desai, the court registrar, discovered that Christian was neither an arbitrator nor were his tribunal's orders legitimate.

Following Desai's complaint, Karanj police registered an FIR and apprehended Christian. Notably, he already faced a cheating complaint filed at Maninagar police station in 2015.