A fake arbitration court operating in Gujarat has been busted by police, marking the latest in a string of “fake offices” running in the BJP-ruled model state.
Maurice Samuel Christian, a resident of Gandhinagar, was arrested on Monday for allegedly impersonating an arbitrator and passing fake orders in favour of clients involved in land disputes.
The Ahmedabad Police confirmed the arrest and revealed that Christian had run the bogus arbitration court for over five years before it was shut down following a complaint from a local court. Christian is accused of participating in a criminal conspiracy by posing as an arbitrator without holding an Arbitration Contract and without legal authority under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996.
The complaint, filed by Hardik Sagar Desai, Registrar of City Civil Court in Bhadra, Ahmedabad, led to the filing of an FIR at Karanj police station.
According to the FIR, Christian had been representing himself as an arbitrator in a case involving petitioner Thakor Babuji Chhanaji, despite lacking any legitimate grounds to do so.
The investigation revealed that Christian had been conducting illegal arbitration proceedings between March 2019 and October 2024.
One significant instance cited in the FIR involved Christian passing an “award” (order) in a land dispute between the petitioner and the Collector of Ahmedabad. The police alleged that this fraudulent order passed on March 30, 2019, was designed to seize government-owned land through fabricated legal rulings.
Christian allegedly presented these bogus claims in court in an attempt to gain unlawful possession of the land on behalf of his clients.
Police reports suggest that Christian’s modus operandi was to conduct fake arbitration sessions and issue awards that favoured his clients, who would then use these false claims to secure illicit benefits. Christian had previously faced fraud charges.
Raising serious concerns, Advocate Sanjay Pandit told Vibes of India, “It seems the government has no control over these incidents. First, fake officials were caught, and now fake offices are being uncovered. In my view, the BJP government is not taking this seriously. The government should have been proactive in addressing these cases.”
Not Everything Is Real In Today’s Gujarat
This case is not an isolated incident in Gujarat because a series of fake operations have come to light in recent years.
Last year, six fake government offices were uncovered after authorities found a scam involving the misappropriation of government funds worth several crores of rupees.
One of the most notable cases involved a former Gujarat-cadre IAS officer, B D Ninama, who was arrested in Dahod district for allegedly running six fraudulent government offices. These fake offices received Rs 18.6 crore in grants intended for irrigation projects.
Ninama, along with conman Sandeep Rajput, was accused of misappropriating Rs 4.16 crore in a similar scam involving a fake executive engineer office for irrigation projects in Chhota Udepur.
In July of this year, another case emerged when a fake hospital was uncovered in Ahmedabad following the death of a patient. The hospital, Ananya Multi-Speciality, claimed to provide services in multiple departments, including ENT and Urology, despite operating without proper authorisation.
Additionally, Gujarat Police recently exposed a fake toll plaza in Morbi district, where operators had set up an illicit toll station to help vehicles bypass the legitimate toll plaza. They charged a lower fee, allowing vehicles to travel on a private route and defrauding the government in the process.
Advocate and Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch state convenor Subodh Kumud claimed that bureaucrats and members of the ruling BJP are also involved in these fraudulent activities.
“For so long, the fake court was operational, and the local crime branch and other personnel were unaware… that is completely bogus. There is a nexus; there must be some connection. Government officials are involved in this,” he alleged.
Gujarat Has Fake Officials Too
In the past two years, over 19 similar cases have surfaced, with Surat—known as Gujarat’s diamond city—emerging as a hub for such fake operations.
In the last two months alone, three individuals were arrested in Surat for impersonating officials: Himanshu Rai, who posed as a customs officer; Pradeep Patel, who falsely claimed to be an IPS officer; and Tarun Bhatt, who was caught impersonating a CID officer.
A technical assistant of the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme and a Gram Rozgar Sevak (GRS) was suspended by the Director of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) in Dahod for allegedly embezzling Rs 18.41 lakh through 21 fraudulent projects.
The disturbing trend of fake officials also includes Neha Patel, who pretended to be a Deputy Collector in Mandvi Taluka, and Viraj Patel. In November 2023, Punyadev Rai was arrested for posing as an officer of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in Gandhinagar.
A fraudulent Chief Medical Officer (CMO), accused of raping a woman in Vadodara, was also caught.
Levelling serious allegations against the state government, Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi told Vibes of India, “There is a racket involving fake currency, fake offices, etc under BJP rule. As a result, poor people are being denied their rights. Moreover, cyber fraud and fake degree scams are also on the rise in the state. It is important to note that individuals impersonating officials from the PMO, CMO, CBI, Income Tax department, and police are from Gujarat. Now, even the judiciary has not been spared. The BJP government has been ineffective, and the entire cabinet must resign.”
A few weeks earlier, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested a 34-year-old man from Karnal, Haryana, for allegedly defrauding several individuals in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar by posing as a Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) official. The accused, Bharat Chhabra, allegedly impersonated senior officials from various government offices, including the PMO, the Gujarat Secretariat, and central intelligence agencies.
Last, but not least, who can forget the infamous Kiran Patel?!
He was first arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police for pretending to be a top-ranking PMO official and later Ahmedabad Crime Branch took over the case. He is said to have duped many people in Gujarat by promising government contracts or approvals.
We talk about ‘Vikas’ (development), but only con men are having their Vikas in Prime Minister Modi’s fortress.
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