New Delhi: A Delhi court has found a man guilty of forging an official letter purportedly written by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an attempt to secure a BJP ticket for the 2019 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
The verdict was delivered by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Jyoti Maheshwari at the Rouse Avenue Courts. While delivering the verdict he underscored that fabricating documents in the name of public officials undermines institutional credibility. The court observed that while misuse of names of public figures is often trivialised, it becomes a serious threat to public trust when presented as an official act.
Conviction for forgery
The accused, identified as Shivaji Yadav, was convicted under Sections 465 (forgery) and 471 (using a forged document as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code.
The case stemmed from a letter dated June 10, 2019, which allegedly recommended that the accused be granted a BJP ticket from the Lucknow Cantt constituency. Suspicion over the document was first raised by the Prime Minister’s Office, which flagged it as dubious and prompted an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The probe concluded that the letter was fabricated and had not been issued by the Chief Minister’s Office.
In its ruling, the court held that the accused had created the forged letter and knowingly sent it to the PMO as an authentic communication. It further noted that the prosecution had established the case beyond reasonable doubt, with the accused failing to provide any credible explanation for the evidence against him.
The judge also remarked that the act reflected a deliberate attempt to give legitimacy to a false communication by invoking the authority of a constitutional office. Such actions, the court said, risk eroding the sanctity of official processes and communications, warranting strict legal consequences.