A case has been filed against three people, including a member of the Barguna Bar Association, for allegedly forging the signature and official seal of a Dhaka metropolitan magistrate and using a fabricated marriage affidavit in an attempt to initiate legal proceedings against him.
Khalid Hossain, office assistant and computer operator to Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam, filed the case on Sunday night.
The accused are Tarikul Islam Toru Faraji, a lawyer and member of the Barguna Bar Association, Md Nayan and Fahima Islam Ria.
According to the case statement, the alleged forgery came to light at around 3pm when a photocopy of a marriage affidavit involving Nayan and Ria was sent to the court for verification. While checking the memorandum number against the official register, Khalid found that the same number had already been recorded under another person’s name.
Further verification found that the signature and official seal of Magistrate Ariful Islam had allegedly been forged in the countersignature section of the notary affidavit. The forged document was allegedly prepared to give legal validity to the marriage affidavit.
Under existing law, Muslim marriages must be registered through a kazi. However, the accused allegedly used the forged notarised document to bypass the requirement.
Using the document, the accused attempted to file a case against Magistrate Ariful Islam with the Barguna Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.
Magistrate Arif Hossain of the Barguna court dismissed the petition, saying it lacked the necessary elements for the case to be accepted.
The prosecution alleged that the accused were members of an organised forgery ring and had acted in collusion to prepare and use fabricated official documents, including the signatures and seals of judicial officers, for legal and official purposes.
The case statement said the accused knowingly used the forged seal and signature as genuine with the intention of committing fraud.
An investigation is under way to identify other unidentified members of the alleged forgery ring.
