Mumbai: Forged Magistrate's sign to clear pending work, says clerk

Maruti Salunkhe

The judicial clerk, who was arrested for forging the signature of the Metropolitan magistrate, still claims that he did it just to clear the pending work in the court.

Also read - Mumbai: Judicial clerk held for forging Magistrate's signature

The financial company for which the clerk had signed 105 case papers, has around 4,000 cases pending in court. In total, there are more than 19,000 cases pending in the court, and the clerk claims he started by forging the signature for the company to reduce the burden on the judiciary. He denied accepting money in return.

mid-day had reported on the matter yesterday. MRA Police had arrested Maruti Salunkhe (54), a judicial clerk in Ballard Pier court no. 33. The court is designated to deal with cases of cheque bouncing. Salunkhe has been working there for more than 25 years.

"Salunkhe is a very honest person. He didn't do this for financial gain for sure. We are sure that he will come out clean if the court understands his intention," said a colleague.

"Documents on which Salunkhe signed were transfer papers to another court in whose jurisdiction the case was registered," said a cop. "There are more than 19,000 cases pending in the court. So we have to verify his claims of innocence. We are about to check the bank and call details of the accused, as there could be a money trail," said the officer.