Advocate accused of faking magistrate’s signature on false bail order

A female advocate faces charges for allegedly forging a magistrate’s signature on a counterfeit bail order, defrauding a murder suspect’s wife of Rs 90,000. The Dahisar police initiated the case based on a complaint filed by Satyata Ishwar Naidu, who, in November 2022, discovered that her husband’s bail order and bail bond receipt had been fabricated.
In August 2022, Satyata was introduced to a lawyer named Hiral Jadhav, who promised to secure her husband’s bail for a fee of Rs 60,000. Jadhav later informed Satyata that the bail amount set by the magistrate was Rs 25,000, which they paid. However, when Satyata presented these documents at Thane jail, they were deemed incomplete, and further complications arose.
Satyata eventually realized that the bail order and receipt were counterfeit. She reported the matter to senior Mumbai police officials, who transferred the case to the Crime Branch Unit XII. An FIR was registered at Dahisar police station on October 22. The charges against Jadhav include cheating and forgery under sections 420, 465, 467, 468, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code. As of now, no arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.