Kerala High Court orders probe into fake stamp papers

Thiruvananthapuram, April 20 (IANS) Acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Manjula Chellur Friday gave directions to all the courts in the state for an immediate inquiry into the use of stamp papers, after a massive fraud of fake stamp papers was detected at a lower court here.

A media report earlier this week showed the use of fake stamp papers being used by litigators in a few courts here.

Following this, District and Sessions Judge B. Sudheendra Kumar Thursday filed a complaint through the court sheristadar (court officer) here.

The judge decided to approach the police for a detailed examination for veracity of the stamp papers after forged ones were found to be used in large numbers.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Director General of Police Jacob Punnoose said a case has been registered and investigations have been launched.

'The police will look if a racket is in operation. A detailed probe has begun. We do not rule out a state wide probe. Right now, the investigations will be in the courts and then we will move to the sub-registrar offices also,' said Punnoose.

Preliminary estimates by the police indicate that the fraud would run into crores of rupees.

'The finance department is now working on a modern technique to avoid fraud in the use of stamp papers,' added Punnoose.