ગુજરાતી
English
28 October 2024
After the arrest of ‘fake judge’ Morris Christian, who ran a ‘fake court’ in Gandhinagar, new revelations are being made in the police investigation. The investigation has revealed that Morris has given fake judgments in land cases not only in Gujarat but also in other states.
Not only this, after it was revealed that Morris Christian had also given judgments in cases before the Arbitration Act came into force, a complaint has been lodged with the police.
According to the information received, an industrialist from Bhavnagar has lodged this complaint.
The victims of fake orders are contacting the police officers investigating against Morris. The case is currently being investigated by the Karanj police station in Ahmedabad.
Inspector Parag Chaudhary of Karanj police station told the BBC, “We have raided Morris Christian’s house in Kalol, during which many documentary evidence have been found, on the basis of which the investigation is going on.”
The search for Morris’s old lawyer is on. We are investigating his contacts to get information about his modus operandi. Morris used to dupe people looking for disputed land cases. We will collect the necessary evidence by the time the remand ends.
How did a ‘fake judge’ run a ‘fake court’ for nine years in Gandhinagar?
Order to give land worth crores of rupees
Image caption, In 2019, Morris Christian ordered the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to transfer five plots to Vincent Oliver Carpenter, a resident of Navrangpura area.
By becoming a fake judge, Morris Christian gave some arbitrary decisions which even confused the administration.
In 2019, Morris Christian ordered the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to transfer five plots to Vincent Oliver Carpenter, a resident of Navrangpura area.
When the hearing of this case started, it was found that three out of the five plots did not exist and two plots were acquired in 1973 itself.
Talking about this, Prakash Gurjar, president of Ahmedabad Law Committee, says, “People often encroach on the land of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, but how can a municipal corporation encroach on someone’s land?”
“When I investigated the case, it was clearly written in the judgment that Mohammad Kader Ali Syed had given the power of attorney of this land in the name of Vincent Carpenter.”
“Since no work was done on this place till 1989 after the land acquisition, this land should be returned. The name of the municipal corporation should be removed from the government books and the name of Vincent Carpenter should be registered.”
Image caption: Police investigation has revealed that Morris Christian has given many wrong judgments so far.
“We have challenged this decision in the civil court. The civil court has ordered to register another case against Morris Christian and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the alleged petitioner Vincent Carpenter.
Similarly, a strange verdict was also given in a petition against Bhavnagar-based Jalap Minerals. In the verdict, Morris Christian asked the owners of the company to give 40 per cent of the profit earned by the company from 1996 to 2024 to the petitioner.
According to the details of the case, 69-year-old Ushaben Pandit, a resident of Ghatkopar West in Mumbai, had filed a petition in the arbitration tribunal of Morris Christian that in 1977 her mother Vijayaben had acquired 40 per cent stake in Bhavnagar-based Jalap Minerals.
Ushaben alleged that the company has not given her any rights as a partner.
Based on this petition, Morris Christian gave a one-sided verdict on July 29, 2024, saying that the owners of Jalap Minerals have been giving 40 per cent stake in Bhavnagar since 1996. Give 40 percent of the profits made till 2024 to Ushaben Pandit.
Based on Morris’ alleged arbitration decision, Ushaben Pandit filed an application in the Gujarat High Court on August 7 to get the money as per the arbitrator’s decision.
When Jalap Minerals owner Nayan Bhalani came to know about this, he filed an application in the Gujarat High Court saying that the arbitrator’s decision is one-sided.
The petition said that the decision in this case should be taken only after knowing his side, but Morris Christian was arrested even before the case started in the Gujarat High Court.
Haresh Sagathia, a lawyer for Jalop Minerals, told the BBC, “We were shocked to see this one-sided decision. We got a decision of only 10 pages. How can an arbitrator of a civil court give a decision in a criminal case like fraud?”
“Not only this, Dr. Morris had written ‘Solar Arbitrator, Arbitration Tribunal Gandhinagar’ in his address. There was no office address anywhere in it. We filed an application in the Gujarat High Court, where we came to know that Morris Christian was giving a one-sided false verdict by acting as a fake judge.”
Who is Morris Christian?
Morris Christian, who gave the verdict by acting as a fake judge, used to call himself the sole arbitrator till 2018. Since 2024, Morris has been writing ‘Dr.’ and wrote ‘Gandhinagar’ in front of his name.
According to the Ahmedabad Police, Morris’s home address was given as Gandhinagar, but it remains a mystery.
Morris’s mother died a few days after his arrest. When the BBC tried to talk to him during the funeral, he said in a very low voice:
“I am not guilty and I will be back in 10 or 15 months.”
The BBC spoke to Urmila McEwan, who takes care of Morris’s mother. She said: “I’ve been working as Morris’s mum’s carer for the past two years.
Most of the time, Morris’s driver would come here.”
”Maurice lived in a house in Kalol and his mother lived in a rented house in Sabarmati. Sometimes Morris or his driver would come and leave the suitcase.”
David Fernandes, a Christian leader in the Sabarmati area, said, ”Maurice’s father Samuel worked in the fourth class in the railways. His father was from Rajasthan and his mother was from Goa. Morris was their adopted son, but they treated him like their own son. Morris grew up here in the railway quarters.”
”He used to go to the church in Maninagar to pray. Lawyers, businessmen and government employees from the Christian community visit the church there. Morris would sometimes take their help for his work.”
