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Judges have adjourned a high-profile case of alleged court document doctoring for a ruling early next month.
The Public Prosecution has asked judges for ‘the maximum possible jail sentence’ to be issued on the legal adviser of a well-known Bahraini real estate company should they find him guilty as charged.
The accused Bahraini has blamed a colleague of originating the paperwork under scrutiny and has denied any wrongdoing.
In a note submitted to the High Criminal Court, the prosecution labelled the attorney’s alleged actions as ‘evil’, stating that ‘God has given us freewill in order to keep our promises and not betray others’.
The 41-year-old lawyer has denied charges of forging a court verdict attributed to the High Civil Court, making it appear as if it was genuine, and using it despite being aware of its standing.
In prosecution questioning, the defendant claimed that he submitted it to the company after reading it on the computer of another attorney.
The document supposedly contained the verdict in a civil case over the sale and ownership transfer of a piece of land, located in Al Nasfah, from the Royal Family Council to a real estate corporation.
In the case, the real estate company that the defendant represented sued two members of the council along with the Survey and Land Registration Bureau (SLRB).
The land transfer was soon to be finalised based on this verdict when council’s legal affairs department discovered the alleged forgery, the court heard.
The documents were submitted to the SLRB for approval, which forwarded them to the courts for confirmation, only to reportedly find out that no such verdict existed in court records.
“We received a letter inquiring about the validity of a verdict,” the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry’s courts director told the Public Prosecution. “After checking it against our records and conducting an investigation, it appears that the verdict document was a forgery,” he added
“The serial number on the ruling belongs to a different case, and the High Civil Court’s second circuit did not have a hearing on the date listed. The Civil Court did not ever hear this case in the first place.”
The defendant insisted that he read and sent the verdict from the computer of another lawyer who later denied the suggestion. He testified that the defendant was the only person licensed to raise lawsuits on behalf of the company.
The accused has been a practising attorney since 2006, licensed to appear before both Cassation and Constitutional Courts – Bahrain’s two highest judiciary bodies. Records show that he was appointed as general counsel and legal adviser for the real estate company in 2020.
Judges have adjourned the trial to February 11 for a ruling on that date.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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