Srinagar, Nov 4: In a significant judgment aimed at reinforcing accountability within public institutions, a Srinagar court has sentenced former Managing Director of the J&K Cooperative Central Land Development Limited, Mohammad Shafi Banday, to six years of imprisonment for fraudulently manipulating his date of birth to extend his official service tenure beyond the permissible limit.
According to an official statement issued by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch Kashmir (CBK), Banday was found guilty of forgery, cheating, and falsification of records in an attempt to unlawfully prolong his career. After a comprehensive trial, the City Court of Judge, Srinagar, convicted him under Sections 420, 468, and 471 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC). The court awarded him two years of simple imprisonment on each count, along with a fine of ₹5,000 per offence. The court clarified that all the sentences will run concurrently.
The case dates back several years, when a complaint was filed alleging that Banday had tampered with his official birth records, replacing his actual date of birth, 26 June 1932, with a falsified date, 1 September 1939, using a forged certificate. The manipulation effectively extended his service tenure by more than seven years.
Following the complaint, the Crime Branch Kashmir initiated a detailed verification, which confirmed the allegations. The investigation established that the accused had willfully altered official documents to misrepresent his age, thereby securing continued employment and associated benefits that he was no longer entitled to. This act not only violated service conduct rules but also resulted in wrongful financial gain to the accused and a corresponding loss to the state exchequer, the EOW stated.