Abstract:
Scams are the biggest threatening events which make the economy of a sector or a country to go down and also by tricks which fools the entire population. The prey for these scams may regret a lot or my led to suicide. It is an illegal trick which is used to fool people and lure money from them. In India several scams took place in which the most affected one is called as TELGI SCAM. The offender made loss to government by printing fake stamp papers worth of $ 4.3 billion. Later this scam was figure out by police and CBI and sentenced to imprisonment with hefty fine.
Introduction:
The main offender Abdul Karim Telgi was originally from Karnataka and later turned into a illegal scam leader. In the early stage of his life he searched for work and employed for few years and later got dismissed. Therefore , for sake of quickly earning money he choose the shortcuts by way of making fake passports for immigrating person from India to Saudi Arabia. He set up Arabian metro Travels as an agency to do this business. It was discovered by the police and as result he was sentenced to jail. Aftermath , he started the new illegal business of counterfeiting stamp papers. This scam involve preparation and distribution of counterfeited stamp papers with a huge financial transactions. This were discovered by way of investigation and put before the light of law by police special investigation team [SIT] and CBI.
STAMP PAPERS
Stamp papers are a type of paper have printed by the government of India for usage of registration of properties, sale deeds, affidavits, power of attorney etc… In India there are two types of stamp papers, namely judicial stamp paper and non-judicial stamp papers. Judicial stamp papers are used for affidavits, plaints etc.. and non-judicial stamp papers are used for non-court purpose such as registration, sale deeds etc.. These are available in different price from rupees 10 to 5000 .
The stamp papers can be bought by way of physical stamp paper in which people can directly by stamp papers from authorized vendors. The next way by E-stamping in which buying stamp papers online from authorized banks . then by way of franking , affixing a stamp impression by way of machines at authorized institutions.
SCAM
This network had high quality printing machines exactly as it is used by the government printing press by way of bribe to officials. Also had connection with the authorities in the government printing press at Nasik, which helped more in expanding this business and got “Stamp Vendor License”. He used the demand of non-judicial stamp and Adhesive stamps to create a hub for fake stamp papers. He managed to deviate the stock of government stamp papers to reach the authorized vendors and distributed his fake stamps all over the city. After few years, the business undertaken in the name of Malwa Enterprises ltd. He rented an apartment at Indore and employed men and women for management of business. By way of this business the offender got profit about rupees 30,000 crores. It is not only because of illegal business but also with the co-operation of government official , high profile politicians , police officials and others.
UNFOLDED KNOTS:
The scam was first noticed by banking institutions and rumors spread about this counterfeiting stamp papers. This become a feed to investigative journalism and many knots about to undo. the government of Maharashtra setup a Special Investigation Team [SIT] under the captainship of Srikant savarkar IPS which conducted investigation from 1995 – 2003. They almost found about the entire team by way of conducting raid and investigations. After gaining an national importance , this case was took over by CBI in 2003. The game changes after the CBI involvement by way of interrogating the telgi’s team and seizing counterfeit documents. In 2001 telgi was arrested by special investigation team and they submitted an crucial report titled “JAISWAL REPORT” in 2002. Aftermath , in 2004 CBI filed charge sheet .telgi faced multiple cases regarding forgery, fraud, counterfeit across states. during investigations, telgi admitted his fraudulent activities and his collaboration with Nasik security officials . he confessed the details about obtaining original printing die and help of political personalities. It was found that around 43 printing press for fake stamps were established and 123 bank accounts were created to collect the amount. About 36 houses were bought by telgi and around rupees 12.35 crores to officials .
CONVICTION:
First conviction was given by special court judge , CBI Indore and an appeal was made against this order . the offence attracted the crimes under Sec. 120-B of IPC, Sec.255 of IPC, Sec. 258 of IPC, Sec. 259 of IPC, Sec.420 of IPC with Sec. 69 of Indian Stamps Act, 1899 and also attracts Rule 11(iii)(a) of Madhya Pradesh Stamp Rules, 1942. In 2005 the accused telgi was convicted on account of all the provisions attracted for 30 years and obliged to pay hefty sum of rupees 202 crores. An appeal made against the special judge order by challenging in high court of Madhya Pradesh in 2007 . the court by stating that no merit was found in appeal and by this virtue the appeal got dismissed. The court figure out that the appellants caused severe financial loss to the government and get under the segment of white collar crimes. Therefore there is no need to challenge the order passed by the special judge. Finally the court upheld the conviction of Abdul Karim Telgi. Many cases invoked against him in the state of Karnataka and Maharashtra. In this case the prosecution has proved the allegations beyond reasonable doubts.
This can led to an eye opening for various corruptions occurred at high levels. The accused was in link with many political figures, police officials, government officers. It is possible by way of bribery. The Indian government suffered a great financial loss by this activity. Around 12 complaints were filed against the accused in the year of 1992 to 2002 in the state of Maharashtra. In the investigation it is found that telgi counterfeited various stamp papers such as, special adhesive stamp paper, judicial court stamp paper, insurance policy papers, brokers notes, foreign bills, revenue stamp paper , share transferable certificates at the exact manner produced by government.
CONCLUSION:
Later in 2017, telgi died in while in imprisonment by cause of multiple organ failure. By this stamp paper scam In 2005, India introduced digitalized stamp papers for sake of security reasons and to prevent scams and corruptions. It subsequently , led to establishment of Stamp Paper Investigation Team [ STAMPIT ] for the prevention of fake stamp paper production. In 2003 a reporter named Sanjay Singh, be the whistle blower of the scam by way of writing a book.. A web series was also directed on the story of this scam called “ Scam 2003 : The Telgi Story”. This scam not only backlash the corruption in the government sector but also led to further scrutiny in the area of stamp papers. It was considered as one of the biggest financial scams in India. The CBI also to be appreciated for the quick inquiry in this case without delay. This incident remained as an nightmare in the Indian history.
FAQ:
1. What is telgi scam ?
It the scam involved the counterfeiting of stamp papers and distributed across the country which made severe financial loss to the government.
2. what are all the types of stamp papers?
Generally the stamp papers are of 2 types , namely judicial stamp papers and non-judicial stamp papers.
