Chargesheet against Canadian national for forgery in exit permit quashed

Madurai: Granting relief to a Canadian national who was unable to travel to his country for nearly 16 years due to the pendency of a criminal case, Madras high court recently quashed the chargesheet filed against him in a case registered by Trichy police since the exit permit was forged.
The court was hearing the petition filed in 2024 by Zakaria Farah seeking to quash the chargesheet filed before the judicial magistrate (JM) VI court in Trichy.
The case of the prosecution is that on Oct 3, 2007, immigration officials discovered that the exit permit, dated Aug 24, 2006, issued by the commissioner of police and foreigners registration officer, Hyderabad, was a forged document. The petitioner attempted to use the forged document to board a SriLankan Airlines flight.
A case was registered by the Trichy Airport police against the petitioner for offences under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, Foreigners Act, and Passports Act. After completion of the investigation, a chargesheet was filed. The case was pending on the file of the VI JM court in Trichy.
The petitioner stated that he is a Canadian citizen and he is unable to visit his home country for the past 16 years due to the pendency of the FIR registered in 2007, which has severely affected his personal and professional life. He stated that the delay in filing the chargesheet has prejudiced his right to a fair trial due to the deterioration of evidence and potential loss of witnesses.
Justice K Murali Shankar observed that the prosecution has not produced the exit permit alleged to have been recovered from the petitioner/accused. It is not the case of the prosecution that they sent the exit permit to the forensic department and got an opinion that the permit produced by the petitioner is forged.
The prosecution has miserably failed to produce any prima facie material to show that the document in question is a forged document. In the absence of any prima facie materials for forgery, the question of invoking relevant sections of IPC does not arise at all. The prosecution has also not produced any materials to attract the offence under the Foreigners Act and Passport Act, the judge observed.
The judge observed that the FIR was registered in 2007 and the chargesheet was filed in 2023. The prosecution has not offered any acceptable reason or explanation for the said inordinate delay. More importantly, without prima facie materials, the chargesheet was filed. Hence, the judge concluded that the chargesheet cannot be legally sustained and the same is liable to be quashed.