SRINAGAR: A Srinagar resident has been convicted by a local court in a nearly 20-year-old case for attempting to cheat the Directorate of School Education, Kashmir, by submitting a forged ISO certificate in a government procurement tender.
The Court of the City Judge (Judicial Magistrate 1st Class), Srinagar, convicted Saqib Faheem Kachroo, son of Mohammad Ashraf Kachroo, a resident of Bohlochipora, Soura, in connection with FIR No. 48/2004 registered at Police Station Crime Branch Kashmir. The case was registered under Sections 511, 420, 468, 471 and 201 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).
The case originated in November 2003 when the Directorate of School Education, Kashmir, invited tenders for the supply of science material for chemistry laboratories. The eligibility criteria required participants to be certified manufacturers or dealers and to submit valid ISI or ISO certificates as part of the documentation. During the tender scrutiny, a firm named M/s Marinex Chemie, located near Gole Masjid, Bohlochipora Soura, submitted an ISO-9000 certificate reportedly issued by Rotterdam, Netherlands. Upon examination, the document appeared to be fake.
Following a complaint from the education department, the Crime Branch Kashmir conducted a preliminary enquiry, which confirmed that the certificate had been forged and was produced with the intent to deceive the authorities and fraudulently secure the supply contract. The subsequent investigation established the involvement of Saqib Faheem Kachroo in fabricating and using the forged document to cheat the department.
A chargesheet was filed before the court on July 22, 2008. After years of legal proceedings, the Hon’ble Court held Kachroo guilty of attempting to commit cheating, forging documents, using forged documents as genuine, and causing the disappearance of evidence.
The court sentenced him to two years of simple imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 420 RPC. He was also sentenced to two years’ simple imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000 under Section 468 RPC, another two years with the same fine under Section 471 RPC, and one year of simple imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 511 RPC. In the event of failure to pay the fines, he will have to undergo an additional six months of simple imprisonment. The court ordered that all the sentences will run concurrently.
