Gujarat Police Arrests Conman On Allegations Of Running Fake Arbitration Tribunal Since 2019

According to a report by PTI, Christian, who is now facing an FIR under Sections 170 (Personating a public servant) and 419 (Punishment for cheating by personation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), allegedly cheated people by posing as a presiding officer of an arbitral tribunal and passing favourable orders, claiming that he is an 'official arbitrator' appointed by a competent court and was authorised to deal with arbitration matters.

Christian, who claims to have a law degree, adopted a modus operandi in which he would trap individuals who are fighting land dispute cases in the city's civil court and charge them a hefty fee to settle their cases efficiently.

He would call such people to his office in Gandhinagar, which was designed to resemble a courtroom where he used to pass orders after hearing the arguments of all the parties involved in the dispute. He also gave false claim statements for his clients and created the entire arbitration proceeding in a fake courtroom.

As per the initial probe in the matter, people employed by Christian used to act as tribunal staff and lawyers so as to give the parties the illusion that the proceedings were legitimate and genuine.

The FIR has been lodged based on a complaint filed by Hardik Desai, currently serving as the registrar of the Civil Court, Ahmedabad, on the instructions of JL Chovatia, judge of the city civil and sessions court, Ahmedabad.

Chrisitian's acts came to light when Babjuji Thakor filed a civil application in the city civil court claiming rights over a parcel of government land in the Paldi area of Ahmedabad. To fortify his claim over the said land, Thakor produced the claim certificate, which Christian fraudulently awarded to him under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996.

Initial Police probe has revealed that Christian passed an order in favour of one of his clients in a case related to government land in 2019, which indicates that he has been running a 'fake' tribunal for at least the past five years.