A woman advocate was booked for allegedly duping a teacher of ₹90,000 on the pretext of securing bail for her husband who is in jail on murder charge. An NGO – with whose help the 26-year-old complainant, Satyata Naidu, discovered the fraud – also helped her to recover the cheated amount.
According to the first information report (FIR) lodged at the Dahisar police station on October 21, Naidu's husband has been in prison since July 2021 hence she was looking for legal aid.
The Initial Meeting
In August 2022, the teacher along with her relatives met Advocate Hiral Jadhav at the latter's office in Borivali East. Assuring them of getting a bail, the accused sought Rs65,000 to initiate the process.
The aggrieved readily gave the money, after which Jadhav claimed to have filed a bail application at the Dindoshi sessions court. On October 28, 2022, she told Naidu that the plea had been approved on a bond of Rs25,000. This time, the family met the advocate near the Bombay High Court and handed over the money. Subsequently, Jadhav gave an envelope to Naidu, saying that it contained a bond receipt of Rs25,000 and the bail order, and instructed her to deposit it at the Thane jail box.
Evasion and Deception
When the complainant didn't hear from the authorities despite following the instruction, she contacted the jail officer and was shocked to know that the envelope was returned as it neither had the bond receipt nor the bail order. When confronted, Jadhav initially gave evasive replies and later said that the man hadn't been released due to a mistake by the jail administration. The advocate provided a second envelope while asking to deposit it again, but nothing happened.
Fake Documents
In November 2022, Naidu again met Jadhav at the Dindoshi court. This time, the latter handed over photo copies of the bond receipt and the bail order. When the man wasn't released, the advocate said that she had met the jail officer and came to know that the bail order couldn't be executed as someone had complained against the murder accused.
Uncovering the Truth
Growing suspicious, Naidu sought the help of an NGO and checked online records, which showed no entries for her husband's bail order. The woman then approached the sessions court and presented the documents given to her by Jadhav before the registry department. Another rude shock came in when the teacher came to know that the documents were fake. She also discovered that the advocate had earlier cheated another person in the same manner.
An FIR was registered against Jadhav under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly), 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (use of fake document as genuine one) of the Indian Penal Code.
